BY    THE   AUTHOR    OF 

LETTERS  ON  THE  EASTERN  STATES." 


i 


BOSTON: 

WELLS  AND  LILLY,— COURT-STREET. 

1821. 


To  give  a  formal  account  of  a  collection 
of  trifles  like  those  contained  in  this  little 
volume,  would  be  making  a  very  inexpedi 
ent  addition  to  their  number ;  but  the  au 
thor  may  be  indulged  with  a  few  words, 
by  way  of  introduction.  Having  had  some 
connection  with  the  Monthly  Anthology, 
and  the  North  American  Review,  which  will 
be  works  of  considerable  moment  in  the 
annals  of  American  literature,  he  was  desi 
rous  of  stating  a  few  facts,  relating  to  the 
origin  and  conduct  of  those  two  journals  ; 
and  to  be  furnished  with  an  excuse  was 
the  prevailing  motive  for  selecting  a  few 
light  papers,  from  among  the  articles  he  con 
tributed  to  their  pages.  As  neither  of  these 
journals  were  at  the  time  in  very  exten- 

M8G1074 


iv  PREFACE. 

sive  circulation,  the  pieces  taken  will  be  new 
to  most  readers.  On  perusing  them  again 
to  make  the  present  selection,  it  seemed  ex 
pedient  to  change  or  omit  some  sentences  ; 
but  on  reflection  they  appeared  too  slight  to 
bear  repairing,  and  they  are  therefore  re 
printed  verbatim  "  with  all  their  imperfec 
tions  on  their  head."  Several  of  these 
papers  are  in  the  form  of  Memoirs,  the  sa 
tire  of  which  is  general  and  without  any 
individual  reference.  The  idea  of  assum 
ing  this  manner  was  first  suggested  by  the 
vexation  of  having  waded  through  a  very 
tedious,  pompous  and  jejune  memoir  of  a 
Frenchman,  who  was  seeking  by  its  com 
pilation  to  pay  his  court  to  Napoleon.  The 
wide  diffusion  of  science  is  one  of  the  ad 
vantages  of  our  times  ;  yet  it  tends  to  pro 
duce  a  great  deal  of  ostentation  from  writers 
of  very  shallow  pretensions,  and  is  apt  to 
lead  even  those  who  possess  solid  acquire 
ments,  into  a  misplaced  and  ridiculous  pe 
dantry.  Some  persons  now  a  days  can 


PREFACE. 


hardly  speak  of  a  field  of  Indian  Corn, 
without  talking  about  Triticum  Indicum; 
and  if  they  describe  the  Venus  de  Medicis, 
as  made  of  Parian  marble,  [carbonate  of 
lime]  is  sure  to  be  added  between  brackets. 
— The  remaining  articles  were  the  occu 
pation  of  a  few  idle  hours,  and  if  they  give 
any  amusement  to  the  "  courteous  reader," 
the  author  will  be  ready  to  believe,  that 
they  could  not  have  been  "  better  spent." 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

The  Monthly  Anthology 1 

Observations  on  Madame  de  Stael's  Corinna 8 

Memoir  on  Cranberry  Sauce 19 

Memoir  on  Toast 26 

Memoir  on  the  Purring  of  Cats 36 

A  Dissertation  upon  Things  in  General 43 

The  North  American  Review 52 

On  Geological  Systems 61 

Memoir  on  the  Antiquity  of  the  United  States 66 

Miseries  of  Human  Life 82 

Epigram 84 

On  Hearing  of  the  Death  of  a  Friend .  85 

A  Letter  from  a  Country  Gentleman 88 

Tour  to  Sandwich 94 

Secret  Causes  of  the  American  and  French  Revolutions    .  112 

The  Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air,  A  Vision 126 

A  Ballad 139 


THE 


MONTHLY    ANTHOLOGY, 


THIS  work  was  begun  by  Mr.  Phinehas  Adams,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard,  and  who  at  the  time  taught  a 
school  in  Boston.  The  first  number,  "  under  the  title 
of  the  Monthly  Anthology  and  Boston  Review,  ed 
ited  by  Sylvanus  Per— se,"  was  published  in  No 
vember,  1803.  At  the  end  of  six  months  he  gave 
it  up  to  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Emerson,  who  induced  two 
or  three  gentlemen  to  join  with  him,  in  the  care  of 
the  work,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Anthology 
Club.  The  title  was  altered  with  these  words,  "  By 
a  society  of  gentlemen,"  and  the  change  was  mark 
ed  by  the  numbers  being  printed  in  double  columns ; 
but  after  two  or  three  years  the  double  columns  were 
given  up,  which  however  well  adapted  for  the 
short  articles  of  a  magazine,  were  found  inconve 
nient  for  Reviews  of  books,  if  extended  beyond  a 
mere  notice. 

The  club  was  regularly  organized,  and  governed 
by  certain  rules ;  the  number  of  resident  members 
1 


2  THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY. 

varied  from  seven  or  eight  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  ;  there 
were  a  few  honorary  members  in  other  towns  and  in 
other  states,  who  occasionally  contributed  to  its  pages. 
It  was  one  of  the  rules,  that  every  member  should 
write  for  the  work :  the  contributions  were  in  some 
cases  voluntary,  in  others  were  assigned  by  vote,  which 
was  the  general  practice  in  regard  to  Reviews.  But  in 
labour  of  this  kind,  it  was  found  more  difficult  than  in 
any  other,  to  produce  regularity.  A  few  of  the  mem 
bers  I  believe  never  wrote  any  thing,  and  the  quantity 
produced  by  others  varied  very  considerably.  They 
received  frequent  aid  from  many  correspondents, 
some  of  whom  wrote  more  pages  than  several  of 
the  members.  No  particular  responsibility  devolv 
ed  on  any  one  as  editor,  because  nothing  was  pub* 
lished  without  the  consent  of  the  society.  The  care 
of  the  manuscripts,  arranging  them  for  the  press,  re 
vising  proofs,  necessarily  rested  with  one  individual, 
who,  according  to  the  articles  of  the  club,  was  called 
the  editor.  The  gentleman  who  at  one  period  took 
this  trouble,  finding  himself  obnoxious  to  a  good  deal 
of  remark  as  editor,  declined  filling  the  office  any 
longer.  To  get  over  this  difficulty  an  amendment  of 
the  constitution  was  adopted ;  "  the  duties  of  the 
editor  should  be  discharged  by  a  standing  commit 
tee,  that  this  committee  should  consist  of  one,  and 
that  Mr. ,  [the  actual  editor]  should  be  this  com 
mittee." — A  kind  of  amendment  not  wholly  unlike 
some  that  have  been  made  in  the  constitutions  of 
larger  communities. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  members  of  the 
club,  some  of  them  for  a  short  time  only,  the  rest 


THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY.  3 

during  the  greater  part  of  its  existence. — An  asterisk 
is  prefixed  to  the  names  of  those  who  are  deceased. 
Rev.  Drs.  Gardiner,  Kirkland,  *M'Kean,  Rev.  Messrs. 
*Emerson,  *Buckminster,  *S.  C.  Thacher  and  Tuck- 
erman,  Doctors  Jackson,  Warren,  Gorham  and  Bige- 
low,  Messrs.  W.  S.  Shaw,  P.  Thacher,  W.  Tudor, 
*A.  M.  Walter,  E.  J.  Dana,  Wm.  Wells,  R.  H.  Gar 
diner,  B.  Welles,  J.  Savage,  *J.  Feild,  Professor 
Willard,  *Winthrop  Sargent,  J.  Stickney,  Alexander 
II.  Everett,  J.  Head,  Jr.  George  Ticknor. 

The  club  met  once  a  week  in  the  evening,  and  af 
ter  deciding  on  the  manuscripts  that  were  offered, 
partook  of  a  plain  supper,  and  enjoyed  the  full  plea 
sure  of  literary  chat.  Some  of  these  evenings  were 
truly  the  nodes  atticce:  the  recollection  of  which  is. 
alas,  saddened  by  regret  that  so  many  of  those  who 
contributed  essentially  to  their  delight,  have  been 
prematurely  taken  away  from  their  friends  and  their 
country.  The  meetings  were  often  prolonged 
into  the  middle  watch,  and  the  member  who  went 
too  soon  was  a  subject  of  pity.  It  is  observed  in  the 

records  of  one  evening,    "  Mr. ,  as  usual  went 

away  early,  on  which  Mr. remarked  that  he 

'  was  like  Mercutio,  always  killed  in  the  second  act.' '' 
The  concluding  minutes  of  another  evening  are  ; — 
i4  The  Society  broke  up  (credite  posteri  /)  before 
eleven  o'clock."  The  pleasures  of  conversation 
were  the  prevailing  motive  for  attending  the  weekly 
meetings,  business  was  soon  transacted,  and  a  task 
unfulfilled  had  no  severer  punishment  to  dread  than 
a  little  scolding  from  the  committee  for  publication. 
The  pages  of  the  Anthology  were  very  unequal,  but 


4  THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY. 

there  were  many  of  superior  merit,  and  a  selection 
might  be  extracted  from  it,  that  would  form  a  vol 
ume  of  miscellanies  well  worthy  of  separate  preser 
vation. 

The  work  undoubtedly  rendered  service  to  out 
literature,  and  aided  the  diffusion  of  good  taste  in  the 
community.  It  was  one  of  the  first  efforts  of  regu 
lar  criticism  on  American  books,  and  it  suffered  few 
productions  of  the  day  to  escape  its  notice.  Some 
repining  arid  dissatisfaction  arose  amongst  some  of 
the  authors  who  were  the  subjects  of  remark,  but 
the  public  at  large  generally  assented  to  the  princi 
ples  and  decisions  of  the  critics.  Circumstances  of 
various  kinds  growing  out  of  the  publication  produc 
ed  a  correspondence  with  several  individuals ;  all  of 
which,  together  with  the  regular  records  of  the  club 
have  been  preserved,  and  will  at  a  future  day,  be 
deposited  among  the  papers  of  the  Historical  Society. 
If  in  the  next  century  some  collector  of  literary  an 
ecdotes  should  examine  these  documents,  he  will  find 
materials  connected  with  the  early  state  of  American 
literature  which  may  then  be  interesting. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  merit  of  the  An 
thology,  its  authors  would  have  been  sadly  disap 
pointed  if  they  had  looked  for  any  other  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  it  than  an  occasional  smile  from 
the  public,  the  amusement  of  their  task,  and  the 
pleasure  of  their  social  meetings.  The  publication 
never  gave  enough  to  pay  the  moderate  expense  of 
their  suppers,  and  through  their  whole  career  they 
wrote,  and  paid  for  the  pleasure  of  writing.  Occa 
sionally  a  promise  was  held  out,  that  the  proceeds 


THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY.  5 

of  the  work  would  soon  enable  them  to  proceed 
without  assessments,  but  the  observance  never  came. 
The  printers  were  changed  several  times,  and  when 
ever  they  paid  any  thing,  it  was  an  omen  of  ill 
luck  to  them.  No  one  felt  a  particular  interest  from 
any  expectation  of  either  fame  or  profit  to  extend 
the  circulation  of  the  work,  and  therefore  it  cannot 
be  compared  in  this  respect  with  other  undertakings, 
where  these  impulses  may  be  felt.  Yet  it  serves  to 
furnish  an  instance  in  addition  to  so  many  others, 
to  warn  those  persons  who  engage  in  literary  la 
bour  with  any  view  to  direct  profit,  that  they  will  be 
certainly  disappointed,  and  if  the  pleasure  of  the  em 
ployment,  and  the  satisfaction  of  doing  the  state  some 
good  will  not  suffice,  they  had  better  never  engage 
in  the  pursuit,  for  they  will  be  ready  to  say  at  last,  that 
to  write,  in  the  words  of  Spencer  on  a  different  sub 
ject,  is 

To  lose  good  days  that  might  be  better  spent, 
To  waste  long  nights  in  pensive  discontent. 

The  most  important  and  lasting  benefit  of  the  An 
thology,  will  be  that  noble  institution  the  Boston  Athe 
naeum,  which  originated  in  this  society.  It  was  first 
intended  to  form  a  Reading  Room  and  Library,  to  be 
called  the  Anthology  Reading  Room.  This  plan  was 
proposed  by  Mr.  Shaw,  who  afterwards  followed  up 
the  subject  very  zealously,  and  has  since  devoted  so 
much  of  his  time  and  attention  to  the  growth  and  sup 
port  of  the  Athenaeum,  which  now  contains  one  of  the 
most  valuable  and  extensive  libraries  in  the  country. 
When  it  was  talked  about  in  the  club,  several  of  the 
1* 


6  THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY. 

members  volunteered  at  once,  a  gift  of  books,  and 
a  considerable  number  of  volumes  were -thus  imme 
diately  obtained.  It  is  but  justice  to  mention,  that 
in  the  beginning  of  this  business  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Gardiner  contributed  much  to  its  success,  both  by 
his  decided  opinion  in  its  favour,  and  by  his  lib 
eral  present  of  books.  When  the  plan  was  after 
wards  extended,  and  many  public  spirited  indivi 
duals  joined  in  a  subscription,  that  made  the  estab 
lishment  at  once  solid  and  respectable,  the  members 
of  the  Anthology,  in  consequence  of  the  books  they 
contributed  and  various  periodical  works  which  were 
received  in  exchange  for  their  journal,  were  admit 
ted  to  a  life-right  in  the  institution  ;  several  of  the 
members  became  besides  proprietors  by  subscription. 
Some  merit  is  due  to  them,  for  their  agency  in  bring 
ing  forward  this  measure,  and  as  this  excellent  insti 
tution  flourishes,  it  will  serve  to  perpetuate  the  me 
mory  of  the  Anthology  Club. 

P.  S.  The  following  list  contains  the  titles  of  all  the 
magazines  that  have  been  published  in  Massachusetts. 
They  are  placed  in  the  order  of  their  dates,  the  first 
part  containing  those  which  have  been  discontinued. 

American  Magazine  &  Historical  Chronicle,  3  vols.  1740  to  1743. 

Royal  American  Magazine,  1  vol.   1774. 

Boston  Magazine,           ....  1  vol.  1784. 

Massachusetts  Magazine,  8  vols.  1789  to  1796. 

Columbian  Phenix  and  Boston  Review,  1  vol.    1800. 

New-England  Quarterly  Magazine,         -  1  vol.    1802. 

Monthly  Anthology,             ...  10  vols.  1803  to  1811. 

Literary  Miscellany,       ....  2  vols.  1805  &  1806. 


THE  MONTHLY  ANTHOLOGY.  7 

Emerald  or  Miscellany  of  Literature,  2  vols.  1806  to  1808 

Ordeal, vol.   1800. 

Something,  by  Nemo  Nobody,          -  -        vol.   1809. 
Omnium  Gatherum,    -  vol.   1810. 

Cabinet  &  Repository  of  Polite  Literature,     vol.   1811. 
General  Repository  and  Review,          -  vols.  1812  to  1813. 

Panoplist,  (Calvinistic)  monthly,    -  -  28  vols.  1806  to  1820. 

The  following  are  still  published  : — 

New  England  Medical  Journal,  quarterly,  1812. 

North  American  Review,  do.  1815. 

Athenseum,  (selections  from  Foreign  Magazines) 

twice  a  month,  1816. 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  Repository  and 

Journal,  1816. 

The  Christian  Disciple,  (Unitarian)  every  two  months, 
The  Gospel  Advocate  (Episcopalian)  monthly. 
American  Baptist  Magazine,  monthly. 
The  Missionary  Herald,  monthly. 

This  last  is  a  continuation  of  the  Panoplist,  but  con 
taining  only  the  details  that  relate  to  Missions,  which 
have  now  become  so  numerous  and  important  than 
their  concerns  furnish  matter  enough  to  fill  a  month 
ly  magazine. 

In  addition  to  these  periodical  works,  there  are 
publications  by  three  learned  societies : 

1.  The   "  American  Academy"  has  printed  four 
volumes  4to,  and  completes  a  volume  in  two  parts  in 
about  four  or  five  years. 

2.  The  "  Historical  Society"  has  now  in  press  its 
nineteenth  volume,  the  form  is  octavo. 

3.  The  "  Antiquarian  Society"  has  published  its 
first  volume  in  octavo. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON 


MADAME   DE  STAEL'S  CORINNA. 


Frera  the  Anthology,  September,  1308. 


THE  name  of  Madame  de  Stael  has  long  been  fa 
miliar  in  French  Literature.  Two  ladies  of  this  name 
rank  high  among  their  female  writers.  The  present 
Madame  de  Stael  Holstein  has  published  several 
works,  the  last  of  which,  Corinna,  will  do  more  for 
her  glory  than  all  the  others.  Perhaps  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  give  some  account  of  the  author,  before 
reflecting  upon  her  work. 

She  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  M.  Necker,  who 
played  so  conspicuous  a  part  at  the  commencement 
of  the  French  Revolution ;  and  the  widow  of  the 
late  Baron  de  Stael  Holstein,  who  was  ambassador 
from  the  King  of  Sweden  during  the  time  of  the 
Directory.  Her  children  are  brought  up  in  Switzer 
land,  the  country  of  her  family;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
reproaches  of  her  enemies,  that  she  has  always  kept 
them  at  a  distance  from  herself.  She  is  not  hand- 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA.  9 

some  in  the  face,  but  her  person  is  fine,  above  the 
middle  size.  A  judgment  of  her  character,  formed 
from  her  works,  would  be  as  erroneous,  in  some  re 
spects,  as  that  of  the  lady,  who  described  Thomson 
from  reading  the  Seasons.  She  is  always  writing 
about  melancholy,  and  admiring  the  gloomy,  pro 
found  impressions,  that  abound  in  the  poetry  and  cha 
racter  of  the  English  and  northern  nations ;  yet  Ma 
dame  de  Stael  is  miserable  out  of  Paris;  and  would 
be  as.  wretched  as  Milo  was  at  Marseilles,  as  Seneca 
in  Corsica,  or  Ovid  on  the  Bosphorus.  Her  great 
delight  is  to  be  amid  a  circle  of  wits  in  a  saloon  at 
Paris.  She  is  gay,  laughing,  and  fond  of  animated 
conversation  and  lively  repartee,  in  which  she  always 
takes  a  principal  part,  and  generally  engages  all  the 
men  in  her  conversation,  paying  very  little  attention 
to  her  own  sex,  and  is  therefore  not  a  great  favour 
ite  with  them. 

From  her  rank,  her  connexions,  her  talents,  her 
independent  fortune,  and  active  character,  she  has 
always  been  a  remarkable  personage  in  society,  and 
frequently  meddled  in  political  intrigues.  She 
used  to  be  very  intimate  with  Talleyrand,  and  often 
teazed  this  famous  statesman  and  wit.  She  inquired 
of  him  one  day,  which  he  would  save,  if  he  should 
see  her  and  Madame  Grand,  now  his  wife,  fallen  into 
the  water;  he  answered,  "  My  dear  madame,  you 
know  how  to  swim." 

At  the  period  of  Bonaparte's  usurpation  she  had 
sufficient  influence  to  be  very  troublesome  to  him  in 
the  commencement  of  his  reign,  and  when  he  was 
obliged  to  be  gradual  in  his  usurpation  of  povTer- 


10  OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA. 

In  the  organization  of  the  new  temporary  govern 
ment  she  out  manoeuvred  the  future  emperor,  and 
placed  Benjamin  Constant  in  one  of  the  assemblies, 
in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  the  contrary.  When  he  had 
acquired  stability,  he  did  not  forget  Madame  de  Stael, 
but  sent  Talleyrand  to  tell  her  she  must  leave  Paris, 
and  go  to  Switzerland.  It  was  rather  an  awkward 
commission,  but  he  executed  it  with  address.  He 
called  on  her,  and  after  a  few  compliments  told  her, 
— "  I  hear,  madame,  you  are  going  to  take  a  jour 
ney." — "  O  no,  it  is  a  mistake,  I  have  not  the  least 
intention  of  doing  it." — "  Pardon  me,  I  heard  you 
were  going  to  Switzerland." — "  I  have  no  such  pro 
ject  I  assure  you." — "  I  have  been  told  so,  by  the  best 
authority,  and  that  you  would  leave  Paris  in  three 
days."  The  hint  was  taken.  After  some  period 
had  elapsed,  she  returned  to  Paris,  and,  about  the 
epoch  of  General  Moreau's  banishment,  she  was  ex 
iled  again,  and  ordered  not  to  come  within  ten  leagues 
of  Paris,  because  at  her  house  a  numerous  circle  of 
men  of  talents  and  influence  assembled,  who  were 
disaffected  to  the  government.  This  she  evaded  two 
or  three  times,  which  was  discovered  by  the  police, 
and  she  was  then  banished  to  Switzerland.  She 
made  a  tour  in  that  country  the  summer  of  last  year 
in  company  with  her  friend,  the  beautiful  Madame 
Recamier,  and  the  last  winter  they  passed  at  Vi 
enna. 

The  regions  of  science  and  literature  have  been  so 
generally  explored,  that  many  of  those,  who  have 
not  been  able  to  discover  any  new  matter,  have  been 
contented  with  the  humbler  occupation  of  varying- 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA.  11 

the  manner  of  what  has  been  already  described. 
Several  of  the  sciences  have  been  divested  of  their 
harsh  and  technical  appearance,  and  taught  by  tricks 
and  experiments,  by  rhymes  and  riddles,  as  our 
quacks  administer  their  medicines  in  the  guise  of 
sugar-plums.  History  and  Romance,  which  have  often 
been  two  names  for  the  same  thing,  are  becoming  so 
blended,  that,  possibly,  the  notions  of  posterity  about 
the  two  or  three  last  centuries  will  be  very  similar 
to  those  we  have  of  the  expedition  of  the  Argonauts. 
Fifty  years  ago  we  were  diverted  with  "  Roman- 
tick  Histories,"  and  now  we  are  treated  with  "  His 
torical  Romances."  If  our  descendants  should  be 
come  so  enervated  and  effeminate  by  this  exuber 
ance  of  the  press,  as  to  prefer  amusement  to  fact, 
many  of  our  sprightly  romances  will  be  read,  when 
many  of  our  dull  histories  will  be  forgotten. 

Corinna  is  a  novel,  engrafted  on  a  journey  and  des 
cription  of  Italy,  and  the  licentious  fashion  of  blend 
ing  fancy  and  reality  is  more  innocent  and  justifiable 
in  this  kind  of  work  than  in  any  other.  Of  the  ad 
vantages,  which  it  possesses,  Madame  de  Stael  has 
availed  herself  in  the  ablest  manner.  The  descrip 
tion  of  the  interesting  and  magnificent  objects  of 
Rome,  the  disquisitions  on  Italian  society,  and  the 
progress  of  the  novel,  are  most  ingeniously  mingled, 
and  by  being  alternately  brought  forward,  prevent 
the  most  fastidious  reader  from  tiring.  Mrs.  Rad- 
cliffe's  romances  are  celebrated  for  their  beautiful 
descriptions,  which  loose  a  great  part  of  their  interest 
not  only  from  being  too  often  repeated,  but  because 
they  are  only  pleasing  pictures  of  the  writers  imagi- 


12  OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA. 

nation,  composed  perhaps  from  studies  of  landscape, 
but  vague  and  transitory  as  the  shadows  of  summer 
clouds.  Here  Madame  de  Stael  possesses  a  striking 
advantage  ;  for,  not  confined  like  a  writer  of  travels, 
to  mere  journalizing  and  description,  a  selection  suf 
fices  for  her  purpose,  and  the  canvas  of  her  work  is 
filled,  not  with 

The  Alps,  the  Appenines,  and  River  Po, 

but  with  the  most  interesting  objects  of  ancient  and 

modern  Italy. 

The  persons  of  the  novel  are  few  in  number,  but 

these  few  are  sketched  with  that  delicate  and  mi 
nute  observation  of  character,  which  belongs  to  her 
sex ;  while  the  contrasts  arising  from  different  tem 
pers  and  education,  and  the  effects  of  the  passions, 
are  developed  with  all  the  force  and  skill  produced  by 
a  profound  knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  Count 
d'Erfeuil  is  a  gay,  well  bred,  distinguished  French 
man,  pourtrayed  with  the  most  aggravating  accura 
cy  :  perhaps  the  fidelity  and  spirit  of  this  portrait 
is  better  sustained  than  any  other  in  the  book.  Mr. 
Edgermond,  the  relation  of  Lord  Nelvill,  who  makes 
his  appearance  at  Rome,  is  delineated  so  generally, 
that  he  represents  a  species,  yet  so  simply  and  natu 
rally,  that  he  affects  us  like  a  miniature  among  a  col 
lection  of  historical  pictures.  Oswald  possesses  too 
many  noble  qualities  to  suffer  us  to  despise  him  ;  but 
when  a  being,  like  Corinna,  is  sacrificed  to  morbid 
sensibility  and  imaginary  duties,  we  pity  the  victim 
too  much  to  respect  the  sacrifices  Corinna  is  the 
fair  monster  of  the  work  :  she  is  a  character  out  of 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  COR1NNA.  13 

wature  ;  so  at  least  she  will  be  generally,  and  so  she 
had  better  be  considered  :  yet  she  has  enough  of  hu 
manity  in  her  composition,  a  sufficient  portion  of  the 
faculty  of  inspiring  and  suffering  emotion,  to  excite, 
even  in  the  generality  of  readers,  an  interest  beyond 
that  of  a  mere  heroine  of  romance. 

The  incidents  are  many  of  them  striking  and  novel ; 
and  in  the  present  state  of  literature,  this  is  one  of 
the  rarest  kinds  of  merit.  Oswald  saving  the  mad 
men  from  the  hospital  in  flames  at  Ancona,  the  moon 
light  scene  at  the  fountain  of  Trevi,  and  Corinna  on 
the  road  from  Naples  to  Portici,  will  support  Mad 
ame  de  Stael's  claim  to  this  praise.  The  style  is  elo 
quent  ;  and  the  thoughts  are  many  of  them  singu 
larly  just,  beautiful  and  original. 

The  intimate  knowledge  which  is  discovered  of 
the  character  of  different  nations,  is  a  remarkable 
feature  of  this  work  ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  is 
delineated  most  accurately,  the  French,  the  Italian, 
or  the  English.  The  Count  cPErfeuil  tells  Oswald, 
— "  je  n'aime  en  fait  de  nation,  que  les  Anglais  et 
les  Francais  ;  il  faut  etre  iiers  comme  eux,  ou  bril- 
lans  comme  nous,  tout  le  reste  n'est  que  de  1'imita- 
tion."  It  is  easy  to  see,  which  has  the  superiority 
in  the  eyes  of  the  author.  Neither  Dr.  Moore,  nor 
M.  Dupaty  has  shewn  more  acquaintance  with  the 
Italian  character  ;  the  dialogue  allows  her  the  means 
of  attacking  it  with  the  ebullitions  of  French  vanity, 
and  the  moroseness  of  English  pride  ;  which  is  an 
swered  by  Corinna  only  with  patient  submission  and 
mild  regret.  It  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the 
principal  objects  of  the  writer,  to  shew,  that  the 
2 


14  OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA. 

Italians  have  been  "  more  sinned  against  than  sin 
ning  ;"  to  convert  the  contempt  of  the  world  into 
pity,  and  to  excite  a  belief,  that  men,  whose  ances 
tors  once  governed  the  universe,  who  have  furnish 
ed  learning  and  the  arts  with  some  of  their  brightest 
ornaments,  are  capable  of  being  elevated  from  their 
present  degraded  situation,  and  assuming  a  conspicu 
ous  rank  in  the  world. 

The  work  is  not  without  its  faults;  and  those,  who 
are  fonder  of  the  chaff  than  the  grain,  may  select 
them.  But  there  is  one  obliquity  of  sentiment,  which 
becomes  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  exercises  a  fatal 
influence  over  the  conduct  of  her  hero.  Madame  de 
Stael  was  extremely  fond  of  her  father,  and  has  at 
tempted  in  a  book  she  published,  containing  his  pos 
thumous  works,  to  sublimate  this  affection  into  a 
mysterious,  metaphysical  passion,  which  exposed  her 
to  severe  reprehension  from  the  French  critics.  If 
she  had  persuaded  the  world  in  this  respect,  she 
could  only  acquire  credence  for  singularity  ;  yet,  by 
a  kind  of  perversity,  she  has  made  this  indefensible 
principle  a  governing  motive  in  her  new  work.  Pe 
culiar  circumstances  may  modify  the  affections  unna 
turally  in  a  few  individuals :  will  Madame  de  Stael 
make  an  unfortunate  exception,  a  general  rule  ?  Is  af 
fection  to  a  mother  so  subordinate,  that  la  perte  cTvn 
pere,  is,  la  plus  intime  de  toutes  les  douleurs  ?  Is  af 
fection  for  a  husband,  or  for  our  offspring,  weaker 
than  this?  Ardent  and  melancholy  minds  are  apt  to 
run  into  exaggeration,  but  this,  if  it  were  realized, 
would  recal  the  fable  of  Saturn  devouring  his  chil 
dren. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA.  15 

To  expiate  this  censure  of  Madame  de  Stael,  it 
will  be  a  grateful  task  to  attempt  her  defence,  where 
she  has  been  blamed  unjustly.  It  has  been  said,* 
that  her  inimitable  description  of  the  circle  in  North 
umberland  has  a  tendency  to  discourage  the  gentle 
virtues  of  private,  and  to  ridicule  the  simplicity  of 
domestic  life,  while  the  brilliant  Corinna  will  dazzle 
and  allure.  Alas  1  poor  Corinna  !  did  ever  moral 
of  any  history  stare  the  reader  more  fully  in  the 
face  ?  Is  it  not  as  apparent,  as  those  heaped  up  at  the 
end  of  fables,  labelled  and  dried  for  the  use  of 
school-boys  ?  Does  not  the  luckless  heroine  lament, 
that  she  is  deprived  of  the  charms  of  domestic  life, 
which  she  was  formed  to  enjoy  ;  and  does  she  not 
fall  a  victim  to  one  of  these  admirers  of  still  life  ? 
The  author  gives  a  representation,  which  is  neither 
harsh  nor  extravagant,  of  the  imbecile  taciturnity, 
the  morose,  awkward  pride,  and  the  petrifying  pow 
er  of  this  Northumberland,  tea-drinking  society, 
which  occasions  an  outcry  among  the  parlies  con 
cerned.  What  will  these  moralists  say  to  the  follow 
ing  lines  of  Cowper,  which  ought  to  be  engraven  on 
the  teapot  of  every  similar  coterie  ! 

True  modesty  is  a  discerning  grace. 

And  only  blushes  in  the  proper  place  ; 

But  counterfeit  is  blind,  and  skulks  through  leai. 

Where  'tis  a  shame  to  be  asham'd  to  appear  : 

Humility  the  parent  of  the  first, 

The  last  by  vanity  produc'cl  and  nurs'd. 

The  circle  form'd,  we  sit  in  silent  state, 

Like  figures  drawn  upon  a  dial  plate  ; 

Yes  ma'am,  and  no  ma'am,  utter'd  softly,  show 

Every  five  minutes,  how  the  minutes  go. 

*  See  Edinburgh  Review. 


16  OBSERVATIONS  ON  COR1NNA. 

The  improvisations  of  Corinna  will  be  less  admired 
than  any  other  part  of  the  work.  That,  which  she 
makes  at  the  capital,  is  eloquent,  and  would  he  beau 
tiful  in  Italian  verse,  but  is  too  florid  for  prose.  The 
last,  which  is  recited  at  Florence,  must  be  excepted  ; 
it  is  affecting  and  sublime.  He,  who  can  read  it 
without  emotion,  would  do  well  never  to  leave  the 
bounds  of  demonstration  to  wander  among  the  fields 
of  literature.  If  any  young  man  reads  it,  and  every 
pulse  does  not  vibrate  and  every  nerve  thrill,  let 
him  not  hesitate  in  the  choice  of  a  profession  :  let 
him  not  be  a  clergyman,  he  would  have  to  preach 
the  sublime  doctrines  of  Christianity,  to  sustain  weak 
ness,  and  console  affliction  :  let  him  not  study  the  law, 
he  might  be  called  upon  to  oppose  powerful  injustice, 
or  to  defend  the  devoted  victim  against  popular  cla 
mour  and  factious  persecution  :  lot  him  not  be  a 
physician,  he  may  be  expected  to  soothe  the  agony 
of  wounded  affection,  to  sympathize  with  the  wretch 
ed,  when  his  art  has  been  ineffectual  :  no,  let 
him  hoard  dollars  and  accumulate  interest;  his 
progress  will  be  certain — nay,  (the  advice  is  perfect 
ly  disinterested)  he  will  do  well  to  bring  up  his  chil 
dren  in  the  same  manner. 

This  article  has  become  too  extended  to  admit  of 
extracting  passages  from  the  work,  to  illustrate  the 
opinions  here  advanced.  One  only  must  be  indulg 
ed,  for  the  sake  of  contrasting  Madame  de  Stael 
with  Kotzebue.  The  latter  published  in  1806, 
Travels  in  Italy,  in  four  volumes,  which  are  princi 
pally  remarkable  for  their  stale  and  virulent  abuse 
of  religion.  The  flattest  jests  and  most  scurrilous 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORIKNA.  IT 

remarks  abound  in  every  chapter ;  and  what  would 
be  ridiculous,  if  it  was  not  odious,  is  that  he  seems 
to  have  just  awakened,  and  made  a  Quixotic  expe 
dition  to  retail  forgotten,  exploded  abuse,  which  in 
the  sixteenth  century  might  have  possessed  the 
merit  of  boldness,  but  now  is  only  insipid  and  cow 
ardly.  The  Pope  and  the  Catholics  are  shewn  no 
mercy.  When  the  Lion  was  confined  to  his  den 
through  age  and  infirmity,  the  Ass  came  and  kicked 
him.  The  following  sentence  contains  the  reflect- 
tions  of  Kotzebue  on  the  illuminated  cross,  which 
is  suspended  from  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  on 
Good  Friday  Evening.  "  Le  Vendredi  Saint  on  sus- 
u  pend  dans  la  Coupole  une  croix  enorme,  illuminee 
;'  par  trois  cents  lampes,  ce  qui  doit  faire  line  fort 
"  jolie  decoration."  Compare  this  wTith  the  descrip 
tion  and  reflections  of  Madame  de  Stael  on  the  same 
subject.  The  whole  chapter,  which  is  the  fourth 
in  the  tenth  book,  is  very  interesting  ;  but  a  single 
paragraph  only  will  be  taken,  the  first  sentence  of 
which  is  occupied  by  the  same  object  with  the  one 
quoted  from  Kotzebue. 

Corinne  suivit  la  procession  qui  se  rendait  dans  le  temple  dr 
Saint  Pierre,  quin'est  alors  eclaire  que  par  une  croix  illuminee  . 
ce  signe  de  douleur  seul  resplendissant  dans  1'auguste  obscurite 
de  cet  immense  edifice,  est  la  plus  belle  image  du  Christianisme 
au  milieu  des  tenebres  de  la  vie.  Une  lumiere  pale  et  lointainc 
se  projette  sur  les  statues  qui  decorent  lestombeaux.  Les  vivans 
qu'on  apercoit  en  foule  sous  ces  voutes  semblent  des  pygmees  en 
eomparaison  des  images  des  morts.  II  y  a  autour  de  la  croix  UK. 
espace  eclaire  par  elle,  ou  se  prosternent  le  Pape  vetu  de  blanc, 
et  tons  les  Cardinaux  ranges  derriere  lui.  Us  restent  la  pres 
2* 


19  OBSERVATIONS  ON  CORINNA. 

d'une  demi  heure  dans  le  plus  profond  silence,  et  il  est  irnposr 
sible  de  n'etre  pas  emu  par  ce  spectacle.  On  ne  sail  pas  ce 
qiTils  demandent,  on  n'entend  pas  leurs  secrets  gemissemens  ; 
mais  ils  sont  vieux,  ils  nous  devancent  dans  la  route  de  la  tombe  : 
quand  nous  passerons  a  notre  tour  dans  ce  terrible  avantgarde, 
Dieu  nous  fera-t'il  la  grace  d'ennoblir  assez  la  vieillesse,  pour 
que  le  declin  de  la  vie  soit  les  premiers  jours  de  1'immortalite  ! 


Let  the  reader  of  the  most  ardent  conception  re 
flect  a  while  upon  this  picture  :  the  mystery,  which 
is  the  most  affecting  and  tremendous,  the  most  awful 
and  sublime,  the  consummation  indeed  of  all  the 
others  of  the  Christian  faith, — the  populace  and  no 
bility  of  Rome,  the  whole  hierarchy  of  the  church 
with  their  spiritual  Father  at  their  head,  are  kneel 
ing  in  silent  and  passionate  devotion  ; — the  only  light, 
which  trembles  on  the  outlines  of  this  immense  and 
august  congregation,  on  the  statues  of  saints,  and  the 
tombs  of  departed  sovereigns,  emanates  from  the  il 
luminated  type  of  the  sacrifice  they  are  celebrating : 
let  him  consider  the  lively  and  intimate  belief  of  this 
assembly, — that  the  time  is  night, — the  place,  the 
vast  Basilick  of  St.  Peters  :  he  may  loose  the  reins 
of  his  imagination,  it  will  never  outstrip  the  effect 
such  a  scene  would  produce. 


MEMOIR  ON 


CRANBERRY  SAUCE. 


From  the  Anthology,  October,  1808. 


GENTLEMEN, 

IT  is  well  known,  that  the  French  government 
sent  many  missionaries,  in  the  early  part  of  the  re 
volution,  to  different  countries  for  different  purpo 
ses  :  some  of  these  were  diplomatic  and  consular 
agents,  openly  accredited  and  acknowledged ;  others 
were  scavans,  who  travelled  as  private  individuals, 
but  who  furnished  memoirs  and  information  on  per 
sons  and  things,  which  have  aided  that  government 
in  their  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  Many 
visited  the  United  States,  and  some  of  their  writings 
have  been  published  ;  those  of  Talleyrand,  Volney, 
&c.  are  familiar  to  the  public  The  singular  felicity, 
which  the  French  writers  possess,  of  furnishing  a 
memoir  on  every  subject,  has  often  been  remarked 
and  envied,  and  is  exemplified  in  the  one,  I  now  of 
fer  for  your  miscellany.  It  has  never  been  publish- 


20  MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE. 

in  the  United  States.  Some  persons  may  remark  an 
anachronism,  for  which  I  do  not  pretend  to  account ; 
in  speaking  of  the  lobster,  the  author  cites  the  re 
gulation  of  the  Board  of  Health,  to  prevent  their 
being  eaten  in  the  summer  months,  which,  it  is  be 
lieved,  is  posterior  to  the  period,  at  which  the  wri 
ter  visited  this  country,  but  which  may  possibly  have 
been  inserted  from  subsequent  information.  I  hope 
indulgence  will  be  granted  for  any  French  idioms, 
that  may  appear  in  the  translation,  as  it  is  a  kind  of 
labour,  of  which  I  am  not  very  fond,  and  to  which  I 
am  very  little  accustomed. 
Yours,  &c. 


Memoir  on  the  consumption  of  Cranberry  Sauce,  by  the 

Americans.,  addressed  to  the  Citizen ,  member 

of  the  National  Institute,   by  the  Citizen ,   re 
siding  at  Boston. 

NOTHING  excites  the  sensibility  of  a  Frenchman 
more  strongly,  on  his  first  landing  in  the  United 
States,  than  the  raw  and  simple  state  of  their  culina 
ry  preparations.  If  the  supposition,  which  has  been 
made  by  some  philosophers,  be  not  too  fanciful,  that 
the  progress  of  a  nation  in  civilization  and  refinement 
may  be  ascertained  by  the  degree  of  skill  they  have 
attained  in  cooking,  this  infant  nation  are  still  in  the 
most  barbarous  situation.  A  general  consideration 


MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE.  21 

•f  this  subject  cannot  enter  into  the  present  memoir  ; 
but  some  notion  may  be  formed  of  their  rude  state, 
when  it  is  known,  that  soups,  so  common  in  France, 
are  but  little  used,  and  that  they  substitute  for  them, 
a  composition,  called  a  pudding,  made  of  flour,  suet, 
dried  grapes,  eggs,  milk,  spices,  and  other  hetero 
geneous  materials,  which,  when  served  upon  the 
table,  is  a  real  phenomenon,  for  it  is  commonly  as 
serted,  that  its  specific  gravity  is  greater  than  that 
of  lead.  Our  rich  nutritious  sauces  are  almost  un 
known  ;  and,  as  a  proof  of  the  early  corruption  and 
degeneracy  of  this  nation,  many  of  the  country  peo 
ple  have  bestowed  this  name*  upon  vegetables, 
which  they  eat  in  the  most  unprepared  state,  boiled 
and  soaked  in  hot  water.  But  the  most  universal 
dish,  which  obtains  equally  at  the  tables  of  the  rich 
and  poor,  is  the  substance  which  forms  the  subject 
of  this  memoir. 

Cranberry  Sauce,  vulgarly  called  cramberry  sauce, 
from  the  voracious  manner  in  which  they  eat  it,|  is 
made  from  a  berry,  produced  by  a  plant,  called  by 
us,  Jlirelle  des  marais  ;  the  Vaccinium  Hispidulum  of 
Linnaeus,  a  plant  of  the  8th  order,  first  class,  Octan- 
dria  Monogynia  :  it  grows  in  meadows  filled  with 
moss,  on  a  slender,  bending  stalk,  covered  with  silky 
scales,  whose  leaves  are  oval,  rather  oblong,  and 


*  The  reproach  here  extended  to  the  nation,  is  too  general  ; 
the  corruption  alluded  to  is  confined  to  some  parts  of  New  En 
gland. — Trans. 

t  This  is  a  ludicrous  mistake,  but  excusable  in  a  foreigner 
not  intimately  acquainted  with  the  language. — Tram. 


22  MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE. 

shining :  the  berries  are  large,  red,  and  of  a  plea 
sant  acid  taste.  The  fruit  is  ripened  by  the  early 
frosts  in  the  autumn,  but  is  gathered  through  the 
winter,  and  in  the  spring  after  the  ice  dissolves,  and 
even  then  is  the  most  esteemed. 

Preparing  them  for  the  table  is  very  easily  done  ; 
the  berries  are  stewed  slowly  with  nearly  their 
weight  of  sugar  for  about  an  hour,  and  served  on 
the  table  cold  :  the  sugar  made  use  of  differs  in  qual 
ity  according  to  the  wealth  of  those  by  whom  the 
sauce,  is  used.  It  is  eaten  with  almost  every  species 
of  roasted  meat,  particularly  the  white  meats,  tur- 
kies,  partridges,  &,c.  some  even  eat  it  with  boiled 
fish,  and  I  knew  one  person,  otherwise  a  very  worthy 
man,  who  eat  it  with  lobsters,  for  supper  !  The  men 
tion  of  this  shell  fish,  which  is  taken  in  great  abun 
dance  on  the  neighbouring  coasts,  induces  me, 
though  rather  foreign  to  the  subject  of  this  pa 
per,  to  relate  a  striking  instance  of  the  narrow,  sel 
fish  policy  of  the  institutions  of  this  people.  During 
the  three  summer  months,  the  Board  of  Health  pro 
hibit  the  sale  of  lobsters  in  this  city  ;  but  it  is  freely 
permitted  in  Roxbury,  the  southern  suburb  of  Bos 
ton,  inhabited  principally  by  gardeners,  butchers,  and 
curriers ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  quarter  are 
abandoned  to  the  ill  consequences  arising  from  this 
practice.* 

*  This  furnishes  an  instance  of  the  rashness  with  which  for 
eigners,  particularly  those  from  despotic  countries  judge  of  otir 
institutions.  Every  person  could  have  told  the  author,  that  the 
Board  of  Health  is  confined  to  the  limits  of  Boston,  which  do 
not  include  Roxburv. — Trans. 


MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE.  23 

One  individual  informed  me,  that  the  rosy  com 
plexion  of  their  women  had  been  attributed  to  their 
consumption  of  this  article.  Though  this  opinion 
seemed  extravagant,  I  resolved  to  try  the  truth  of 
it,  because  every  argument  in  its  favour  should  be 
destroyed  if  possible.  I  therefore  prevailed  upon  a 
servant  girl,  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  to  eat  no 
thing  else  ;  partly  by  coaxing  and  partly  by  menaces, 
I  confined  her  to  this  food  for  a  week  ;  at  the  end  of 
which  she  grew  pale  and  exhibited  feverish  symp 
toms,  which  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  absurdity  of 
the  supposition.  I  could  pursue  the  experiment  no 
further,  as  she  threatened  to  run  away,  and  the  most 
senseless  clamour  would  have  ensued,  if  any  ill  con 
sequences  should  have  happened  to  her.  For  so 
cold  and  backward  are  this  people,  that  they  would 
not  sacrifice  the  life  of  one  individual,  to  ascertain 
the  most  brilliant  philosophical  truth ;  and  that  spirit, 
which  has  animated  Frenchmen,  defying  every  ob 
stacle,  and  despising  every  danger,  to  the  sacrifice  of 
thousands  of  the  human  race,  to  propagate  the  ad 
vantages  of  splendid  discoveries,  where  antiquated 
abuses  formerly  reigned,  is  almost  entirely  unknown 
among  them. 

The  important  object  of  impelling  their  sensibili 
ties  to  sympathize  with  ours,  which  must  be  pre 
paratory  to  that  powerful  influence,  which  it  is  so 
strong  an  object  with  the  government  to  attain,  will 
be  greatly  aided  by  an  intimate  approximation  of  the 
common  habits  and  customs  of  life.  None  have  a 
greater  influence  than  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  to 
which  this  gross  people  are  remarkably  addicted. 


24  MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE. 

But  Frenchmen  cannot  partake  of  these  pleasures, 
and  thus  preserve  a  desirable  intimacy,  without  a  ra 
dical  change  in  their  art  of  cooking :  even  French 
enthusiasm  becomes  chilled  in  the  daily  encounter  of 
huge  pieces  of  half  boiled  meat,  clammy  puddings, 
and  ill-concocted  hashes,  rendered  palatable  to  the 
natives  by  a  profuse  addition  of  this  most  villainous 
sauce.  From  the  most  accurate  observations,  I  am 
convinced,  that  French  cookery,  to  which  they  gen 
erally  have  a  dislike,  will  never  be  effectually  intro 
duced  among  them,  till  the  preparation,  treated  of 
in  this  memoir,  shall  be  no  longer  used ;  because, 
from  its  universal  use,  possessing  a  mixture  of  sweet 
ness  and  acidity,  it  stimulates  their  appetite,  and  pre 
vents  them  from  perceiving  the  insipidity  and  stale- 
ness  of  their  dishes,  and  makes  them  insensible  to 
the  advantages  of  our  various  rich  sauces.  Perhaps 
it  would  do  no  harm  to  leave  them  the  use  of  this 
fruit  in  their  pastry,  though  in  this  case,  a  recurrence 
to  ancient  habits  would  always  be  a  subject  of  ap 
prehension.  The  ommelettes  aux  confitures  and  the 
jambons  sucres  might  also  be  introduced  advanta 
geously,  which,  by  flattering  the  national  taste  for 
sweet  things,  would  help  to  soften  their  prejudices. 
The  difficulty  attendant  on  the  achievement  of  this 
reformation  cannot  be  concealed,  the  custom  is  uni 
versal.  Dining  once  with  one  of  the  cabinet  minis 
ters,  at  the  seat  of  government,  there  were  four  soup 
plates  of  this  article,  at  the  four  corners  of  the  table, 
which  is  a  strong  proof  that  this  practice  is  carried 
on  by  persons  even  in  the  most  exalted  stations, 
though  he  was  from  that  portion  of  the  United  States, 


MEMOIR  ON  CRANBERRY  SAUCE.  25 

where  the  habit  is  most  inveterate.  It  must  first  be 
discountenanced  in  the  most  fashionable  circles,  as  it 
is  a  trait  in  the  character  of  this  nation,  servilely  to 
follow  fashion,  and  though  some  repugnance  would 
be  shown  at  first,  in  what  affected  them  so  intimate 
ly  5  perseverance  would  ensure  success. 

It  might  be  suggested  further  to  their  political 
economists,  that,  by  disuse  of  this  fruit,  a  large  quan 
tity  of  meadows,  now  useless,  might  be  reclaimed 
and  added  to  their  national  resources  :  that  a  very 
considerable  addition  of  wholesome  food  would  be 
thus  procured  for  their  horses  and  cattle,  that  is  now- 
lost  by  suffering  the  growth  of  this  pernicious  berry, 
which,  in  its  preparation,  requires  such  a  quantity  of 
sugar,  as  greatly  to  increase  their  humiliating  de 
pendency  on  the  colonies  of  foreign  nations.* 

These  and  other  arguments  might  be  urged  to  de 
stroy  a  practice,  which  I  am  intimately  pursuaded,  it 
is  the  immediate  interest  of  the  French  government 
to  have  exterminated. 

*The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  weakens  the  force  of  this  ar 
gument. — Trans. 


MEM01K 


ON  TOAST. 


From  the  Anthology,  February,  1809. 


GENTLEMEN, 

As  you  published  in  one  of  your  numbers  a  trans 
lation  of  a  French  Memoir,  "  on  the  consumption  of 
Cranberry  Sauce ;"  it  brought  to  my  mind  a  collec 
tion  of  very  singular  memoirs  in  my  possession.  I 
have  selected  one  or  two  of  them,  that  are  among 
the  shortest,  which,  if  you  think  proper,  may  be  in 
serted  in  your  miscellany.  From  the  subjects  and 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  treated  I  should  pre 
sume,  they  were  originally  intended  for  publication 
in  some  philosophical  transactions,  but  whether  in  our 
own  or  any  other  country,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
determine. 

It  does  not  become  me,  to  stipulate  on  what  con 
ditions  they  shall  be  published  ;  but  I  may  express  a 
wish,  that  they  should  not  be  put  under  the  head  of 


MEMOIR  ON  TOAST.  27 

;t  Levity  ;"  because  they  evidently  appear  to  have 
cost  the  unknown  philosophical  author  much  labori 
ous  investigation  and  deep  research.* 

A    CORRESPONDENT. 

Memoir  on  the   consumption  of  Toast  in    the   United 
States  ;  and  its  effects  on  the  national  character. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  food  to  the  very  exist 
ence  of  animal  life  has  rarely  been  denied  ;  but  the 
consequences  resulting  to  the  physical  and  moral 
system  of  man  from  the  use  of  particular  articles  of 
food,  have  never  been  sufficiently  investigated  ;  and 
few  governments,  though  they  are  intrusted  with 
the  care  of  millions  of  the  human  race,  have  ever 
systematically  scrutinized  the  various  tendencies  of 
alimentary  substances.  The  English  are  a  constant 
example  in  their  personal  appearance  and  actions  of 
a  whole  people  consuming  prodigious  quantities  of 
beef;  and  the  harmless  native  of  Indostan  illustrates 
the  condition  of  multitudes  who  live  wholly  upon 
rice.  The  utilities  of  these  researches  will  be  fully 
appreciated  on  reflection ;  and  since  some  philoso 
phers  have  asserted,  that  feeding  a  man  on  raw  meat 
will  make  him  thirst  for  blood,  as  certainly  as  giving 
him  salted  substances  will  make  him  thirst  for  wa.- 


*  We  cannot  comply  with  the  request  of  our  correspondent, 
but  we  can  assure  him,  that  there  are  many  grave  productions  of 
philosophers  and  statesmen  of  the  present  day,  which  we  should 
place  in  the  same  department. — E». 


23  MEMOIR  ON  TOAST. 

ter  ;  none  but  the  most  indifferent,  can  be  insensible 
to  the  direct  influences  of  such  investigations.* 

As  this  subject  has  never  been  scientifically  treat 
ed,  at  least,  after  the  most  diligent  inquiries,  I  have 
not  been  able  to  discover  any  treatise  upon  it,  1  shall 
divide  it  into  genera  and  species,  which  must  facilitate 
its  comprehension.  It  is  possible  that  some  varieties 
may  have  escaped  me  ;  but  I  shall  have  the  humble 
merit  of  laying  a  foundation,  on  which  the  ingenui 
ties  of  others  may  hereafter  erect  a  more  perfect 
system.  The  order  of  classification  which  I  have 
adopted,  and  which  has  appeared  to  me  the  most 
natural,  is  founded  on  the  relative  simplicities  of  the 
process. 

FIRST    GENUS. 

DRY   TOAST. 

Species  Unique. 

I  have  considered  this  genus,  the  only  one  known 
in  France,  as  containing  no  varieties,  because,  when 
cut  into  square  pieces  to  be  put  into  soup,  it  is  only 
a  change  in  the  forms. 

SECOND    GENUS. 

BUTTERED    TOAST. 

Four  Species.  1.  Biscuit.  2.  Wheaten  Bread.  3. 
Rye  and  Whcatfen  Bread.  4.  Rye  and  Indian  Bread. 

*  It  may  be  necessary  to  state  to  the  impatient  reader,  that 
we  feel  gre;tt  regret,  but  no  responsibility  for  the  frequent  and 
useless  expenditure  of  the  plural  number  among  the  author's  sub 
stantives.— -En. 


MEMOIR  OJN'  TOAST.  w 

The  preparation  of  all  these  varieties  is  nearly  the 
same.  The  slices  should  be  cut  about  one  third  of 
an  inch  in  thickness,  and  the  butter  in  a  solid  state 
applied  while  the  toast  is  warm- 

"  THIRD    GENUS. 

PRIMARY    IMMERSED    TOAST. 

Three  Species.  1.  Biscuit.  2.  Wheaten  Bread. 
3.  Crackers.  All  the  species  of  this  genus  are  im 
mersed  in  milk  or  water,  after  being-  cut  into  slices, 
and  previously  to  being  toasted.  This  whole  genus 
requiring  more  delicacy  in  the  operation,  is  of  most 
infrequent  occurrence.  Perhaps  the  second  species 
of  this  genus,  when  properly  managed,  offers  the 
most  seductive  state,  in  which  this  pernicious  sub 
stance  ever  appears. 

FOURTH  GENUS. 

SECONDARY  IMMERSED  TOAST. 

Four  Species.  1.  Biscuit.  2.  Wheaten  Bread.  3. 
Rye  and  Wheaten  Bread.  4.  Rye  and  Indian  Bread. 
These  varieties  are  plunged,  after  being  toasted,  into 
a  warm  mixture  of  melted  butter  and  milk,  or  melted 
butter  and  water.  They  are  by  far  the  most  com 
mon,  and  prepared  the  most  carelessly ;  and  are  fre 
quently  given  to  children,  because,  in  this  way,  the 
quantity  of  butter  may  be  greatly  diminished. 


30  MEMOIR  ON  TOAST. 

FIFTH    GENUS. 
PRIMARY    AND    SECONDARY    IMMERSED    TOAST. 

Species  Unique.  Crackers.  The  remarks  on  the 
last  genus  are  often  true  of  this,  though,  when  fabri 
cated  with  care,  it  may  vie  with  most  of  the  other 
varieties. 

In  France,  only  the  first  genus  is  ever  met  with. 
In  England  and  some  other  countries  in  Europe,  the 
first  genus,  and  the  second  species  of  the  second  genus 
only  are  known  ;  but  in  this  country,  though  the 
first  ge/mn  is  the  most  rare,  the  whole  thirteen  species 
are  found  in  great  profusion. 

The  hints  contained  in  vulgar  proverbs,  often  afford 
instruction  to  philosophical  inquirers.  It  is  very  com 
monly  said,  that  to  cat  fryed  bread,  will  make  the  hair 
curl,  and  some  fact  must  have  given  rise  to  this  sug 
gestion.  Now,  this  preparation  is  very  similar  to 
toasts.  If  then  so  strong  an  effect  is  produced  by 
eating  bread  in  an  incipient  state  of  carbonization,  it 
is  extravagant  to  suppose,  that  much  more  powerful 
consequences  would  result  from  consuming  it  in  a 
completely  carbonized  state  ?  Is  it  not  then  open  to 
conjecture,  that,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world, 
gome  individuals  might,  from  various  accidents,  have 
been  obliged  to  live  for  a  certain  period  on  carboniz 
ed  bread ;  which,  frizzling  their  hair,  and  blacken 
ing  their  skins,  would  have  produced  that  new  spe 
cies  of  the  human  race,  that  has  since  inhabited  the 
continent  of  Africa  ?* 

*  The  author  appears  not  to  have  known,  or  to  have  disre 
garded  the  opinion  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Hunter,  that  the 
negro  was  the  original  man,  and  all  the  others  only  varieties 
from  him,  degraded  or  improved. — ED. 


MEMOIR  ON  TOAST.  31 

The  various  species  of  toasts,  before  described, 
compose  a  principal  part  of  the  morning  and  even 
ing  meals  of  the  whole  population;  and  as  it  hap 
pens  fromjhe  carelessness  of  the  servants,  that  a 
good  deal  of  it,  by  being  burnt,  is  eaten  in  a  car 
bonized  state,  its  effects  on  the  animal  system  must 
be  extremely  deleterious. 

The  chemical  analysis  of  the  human  body  shews, 
that  it  is  composed  of  carbon,  iron,  and  hydrogen. 
It  is  very  probable,  that,  if  the  Americans  were  an 
alyzed,  they  would  be  found  to  contain  a  greater  pro 
portion  of  carbon  than  the  people  of  other  nations. 
But  not  having  been  able  to  obtain  one  for  this  pur 
pose,  1  cannot  verify  the  conjecture. 

The  astonishing  indifference  for  the  collection  and 
preservation  of  interesting  facts,  so  indecently  man 
ifested,  and  so  generally  prevalent  here,  occasions 
much  embarrassment  to  the  physiological  inquirer. 
One  effect  is  remarkable,  its  desiccative  qualities 
tend  to  weaken  the  voice,  and  injure  its  powers  of 
modulation.  This  is  shewn  in  the  dry,  monotonous 
manner  of  public  speakers,  and  still  more  in  singing. 
The  feeble,  stifled,  and  spiritless  intonations  of  both 
sacred  and  profane  singers,  are  so  remarkable  as  to 
.strike  every  stranger  ;  and  I  am  convinced  five  Ital 
ians  would  drown  the  voices  of  the  most  numerous 
choir  that  could  be  collected. 

It  tends  also  to  give  a  stiff,  dry,  crusty  manner, 
which  would  not  exist,  if  this  did  not  form  such  a 
prevailing  article  of  food,  I  will  not  call  it  nourish 
ment.  This  is  demonstrated  by  the  difference  of 
those  Americans  who  travel  in  Europe,  where,  be- 


3t  MEMOIR  ON  TOAST. 

ing  for  some  time  deprived  of  this  article,  they  be 
come  much  freer  from  local  prejudice,  and  of  more 
open  manners,  than  those  in  whom  this  daily  habit 
has  never  been  interrupted.*  An  opinion  may  be 
formed  of  the  extensive  consequences  resulting  from 
this  practice,  when  what  1  was  told  is  generally 
known,  but  still  disregarded.  An  individual  mention 
ing  to  another  the  manner  in  which  he  had  his  toast 
prepared,  and  the  exact  quantity  he  ate  every  day, 
the  other  made  a  hasty  calculation  with  a  pencil,  and 
found  that  he  had  consumed,  in  the  course  of  his 
life,  one  hundred  and  seventy  five  cords  !  It  is  a 
subject  of  regret  to  me,  that  I  could  not  learn  the 
name  of  the  person,  because,  if  he  should  be  a  man 
of  prim,  precise  habits,  it  would  serve  to  elucidate 
my  theory. 

'I  he  subject  would  admit  of  much  more  ample 
developements,  but  I  shall  conclude  with  suggesting 
some  of  the  prominent  objections  to  the  practice. 
Legislative  enactments  on  the  subject  would  be  in 
efficient,  if  the  general  feelings  and  sentiments  of 
an  enlightened  people  could  not  be  called  in  to  their 
aid. 

1.  The  abolition  of  this  food  would  prevent  an  ig 
nominious  dependence  o«  foreign  nations,  or  a  use 
less  diversion  of  domestic  industry,  for  the  supplies 
of  toasting  irons,  toasting  forks,  toast  racks,  &c.  &c. 

*  It  cannot  be  necessary  to  remind  the  reader,  that  we  are 
not  bound  to  refute,  or  accede  to  the  conclusions  of  the  au 
thor. — ED. 


MEMOIR  ON  TOAST. 

2.  It  would  diminish  the  necessities  of  scorching 
the  skin  and  spoiling  the  complexion  of  many  inter 
esting  servant  maids. 

3.  It  would  prevent  the  present  destruction  of  the 
voice  ;  which,  perhaps,  if  this  practice  ceased,  would 
acquire  force  and  mellowness. 

4.  It  would  serve  to  liberalize  the  manners,  and 
enlarge  the  powers  of  the  mind. 

5.  It  would  occlude  the  possibilities  of  being  mu 
tated  into  negroes. 

6.  It  would  operate  a  great  saving  of  time,  and, 
thus  accumulating  the  national  economies,  produce 
a  more   ample  developement  of  the   national   en 
ergies. 


SUPPLEMENT. 

I  was  unwilling  to  introduce  any  thing  into  the 
foregoing  memoir,  which  might,  by  interrupting  the 
continuity  of  the  subject,  divert  the  attention  from 
the  train  of  ratiocination,  which,  I  flatter  myself,  so 
unanswerably  shows  the  evil  consequences  resulting 
from  a  pernicious  custom.  Yet  I  cannot  refrain  from 
adducing  further  proofs,  in  reasoning  by  analogy,  of 
the  direct  influences  of  the  food  we  eat,  on  eur  mo 
ral  as  well  as  physical  qualities,  by  some  reQections 
on  another  substance,  which  will  be  perfectly  fami 
liar,  and  must  have  occurred  to  every  individual.  My 
ideas  will  be  at  once  anticipated,  when  I  mention 
Plum  Cake,  or  its  synonym,  Wedding  Cake  ;  a  com- 


34  MEMOIR  ON  TOAST. 

position,  compared  with  toast,  of  infrequent  occur 
rence  ;  but  which,  being  compounded  of  as  many 
noxious  and  heterogeneous  things  as  were  contained 
in  the  Box  of  Pandora,  I  would  suggest,  should  in  fu 
ture  be  called  a  Pandoroid. 

The  sorceresses,  in  preparing  the  Pandoroids,  use 
many  magical  incantations  ; 

"  Double,  double, 
Toil  and  trouble  ;" 

and  then  furnish  the  outside  with  a  meretricious 
medley,  mistaken  by  the  credulous  and  simple  for 
ornament,  but  which  is  in  reality  a  close  imitation 
of  the  Obi  practices  of  African  enchanters,  from 
whom  it  was  borrowed. 

There  are  thirteen  principal  ingredients  in  these 
compositions,  each  of  which,  though  harmless,  or 
even  nutritious  when  alone,  becomes  extremely  vi 
rulent  in  these  combinations.  If  other  proofs  of  this 
were  wanting,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  consider  the 
difference  between  those  people  whose  nuptials  are 
celebrated  with  this  inauspicious  compound,  and  those 
of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community.  These  latter, 
whose  weddings  are  perpetrated  with  only  a  little 
innocent  gingerbread,  consider  marriage  merely  as 
a  state  for  getting  and  rearing  progeny.  Alas  !  how 
different  from  those  above  them. 

As  soon  as  the  Pandoroid  is  devoured  (which,  from 
the  quantities  made,  occupies  the  efforts  of  months) 
but  sometimes  before,  its  effects  are  fatally  witness 
ed  !  The  sugar  was  only  a  covering  to  the  carboniz 
ed  surface ;  the  eating  of  which  discovers  itself  in 


MEMOIR  ON  TOAST.  35 

the  honied  terms  of  "  my  sweet,"  and  "  my  dear," 
that  faintly  conceal  the  crusty  humour  beneath.  Then 
too  the  brandy,  which  was  amalgamated  in  the  mix 
ture,  shows  itself  in  the  unruly  spirit  of  the  infuriat 
ed  husband  ;  while  the  eggs,  which,  if  the  course  of 
nature  had  not  been  interrupted,  would  have  produc 
ed  chickens,  create  in  the  wife  such  a  disposition  to 
pecking,  that  her  mate  often  becomes  completely 
henpecked.  The  citron,  too,  is  at  once  an  emblem 
and  provocative  of  the  green  eyed  monster,  Jealousy  ! 
Let  every  husband  beware  how  he  tastes  it. 

To  enlarge  further  would  be  superfluous,  though 
the  subject  might  be  "  pursued  through  more  ample 
illustrations ;"  since  no  one  can  think  lightly  of  this 
preparation,  by  whom  it  has  ever  been  eaten. 


MEMOIR  ON 


THE  PURRING  OF  CATS. 


From  the  Anthology,  May,  1809. 


THE  great  obscurity  in  which  this  most  interesting 
faculty  of  certain  animals  has  been  hitherto  involved, 
has,  doubtless,  arisen  from  the  invincible  difficulties 
which  must  confound  every  inquirer  in  the  first  outset 
of  his  researches  into  the  subject.  Penetrated,  how 
ever,  with  its  importance,  and  disregarding  all  obsta 
cles,  when  the  object  is  to  enlighten  society,  I  reso 
lutely  attempted  to  surmount  this  difficulty ;  and  af 
ter  the  most  patient  and  laborious  investigations,  I 
had  the  inexpressible  felicity  of  attaining  a  complete 
insight  into  this  mysterious  habit ;  and  it  would  be 
selfish  in  me  nQW  to  regret  the  time  and  exertions  I 
have  employed  in  prosecuting  to  a  complete  devel- 
opement  this  hitherto  almost  unassayed,  and  most 
intricate  inquiry. 

The  novelty  as  well  as  the  importance  of  the  sub 
ject,  and  the  great  variety  of  interesting  facts,  which 
have  occurred  in  the  course  of  my  meditations  on 
the  economies  of  cats,  will  induce  me  to  prepare  a 


ON  THE  PURRING  OF  CATS.  37 

very  elaborate  memoir,  in  which  the  gradual  pro 
gress  and  successful  termination  of  my  labours  will 
be  minutely  detailed,  and  many  interesting  anecdotes 
recorded  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  admirers  of  the 
feline  species.  But  in  the  mean  time  I  shall,  in  the 
most  concise  manner  possible,  and  without  any  pre 
tensions  to  ornament  of  style,  state  the  points  most 
worthy  of  notice,  and  an  explanation  of  the  manner 
in  which  this  peculiar  sound  is  produced  ;  and  this 
will  give  some  notions  about  the  manner  in  which  I 
have  conducted  the  examination. 

1.  Very  important  conclusions  maybe  drawn  from 
the  manner  in  which  this  operation  is  expressed  in 
different  languages ;  and  the  facts  resulting  from  it 
are  very  intimately  connected  with  the  philosophical 
history  of  nations.  Lest  it  should  savour  however 
of  pedantry,  and  the  affectation  of  too  great  a  dis 
play  of  learning,  I  shall  not  here  inquire  into  the 
terms  employed  in  the  ancient  and  modern  oriental 
languages,  the  indigenous  tongues  of  America,  the 
Russian,  Turkish,  &c.  &c.  but  confine  myself  at  pre 
sent  to  the  Latin,  the  Portuguese,  Italian,  Spanish, 
German,  Dutch,  French  and  English  idioms  ;  and 
these  will  be  sufficient  to  shew  the  very  interesting- 
relations,  connected  with  this  part  of  the  subject. 
Purring  is  expressed  in  Latin  by  feliuin,  blandientium 
sonitum  edere  ;  in  Portuguese,  by  fazer  hum  sonido  ob- 
tuso  como  fazem  os  gatos  e  leopardos,  quando  Ihes  farem 
festa  ;  in  Italian,  by  mugiolare  or  mugolare,  the  same 
word  being  appropriated  to  express  the  lowing  of 
oxen  ;  in  Spanish,  by  maullar  de  alegria,  como  el  gato  ; 
in  German,  by  schnurren  au&swirncn  ;  in  Dutch,  by 
4 


38  MEMOIR  ON 

ranking,  which  also  signifies  to  snore,  and 
which  is  to  fret ;  in  French,  hy  filer \  or  faire  le  rouet. 
It  will  immediately  strike  every  reader  with  disgust, 
that  the  stagnant,  amphibious  character  of  the  Dutch 
language  should  have  confounded  this  amiable  modu 
lation  of  sound,  with  the  horrible  trick  of  snoring, 
and  the  pitiful  practice  of  fretting ;  while  the  very 
imperfect  state  of  society  in  Italy,  is  no  less  evident 
from  their  blending  in  the  same  expression  this  sweet 
modulation  of  voice  in  the  domestic  cat,  with  the 
noisy,  powerful  bellowing  of  oxen.  The  Romans 
too,  notwithstanding  the  boasted  purity  of  their  wri 
ters,  had  no  single  expression  for  this  faculty ;  which 
is  another  proof  that  though  powerful,  they  were, 
compared  with  some  modern  nations,  barbarous; 
and  corroborates  the  celebrated  Mr.  Gibbon's  remark 
on  the  superiority  of  modern  times,  when  he  says 
that  the  great  multiplication  of  glass  and  linen,  pro 
cures  more  comfort  to  a  modern  English  gentleman, 
than  the  massive  sideboard  of  plate,  and  the  plunder 
of  a  province,  could  afford  to  a  luxurious  proconsul. 
Cleanliness  and  quiet  are  two  of  the  principal  in 
gredients  of  comfort,  and  in  these  the  cat  delights. 
Wherever  then  these  are  found  (and  where  a  man's 
house  is  his  castle,  and  his  fireside  his  home,  they 
always  will  be  found)  the  cat  will  be  their  compan 
ion  ;  and  by  thus  forming  a  part  of  fireside  society, 
her  significant  intonation  of  contentment  will  be 
most  frequently  heard,  and  of  course  the  most  ex 
pressive  and  appropriate  term  will  be  adopted  to  ex 
press  it.  From  whence  it  follows,  that  the  nation 
who  express  this  best,  are  the  most  secure  in  their 


THE  PURRING  OF  CATS.  39 

liberties,  and  the  most  refined  in  their  comforts.  By 
referring  to  the  languages  before  mentioned,  this  will 
be  found  to  conform  remarkably  to  the  existing  state 
of  things ;  the  Portuguese  are  the  most  imperfect 
in  their  expression  of  it,  next  the  Spanish,  then  the 
Italians,  then  the  Dutch,  the  French  and  the  German. 
This  latter  nation  approximates  nearly  :  schnurren 
is  a  very  expressive  word,  but  does  not  reach  the 
perfection  of  pwrr,  by  which  the  superior  freedom 
and  civilization  of  the  English  are  undeniably  proved. 
2.  As  many  of  my  meditations  were  occupied  by 
a  favourite  individual  of  my  own  gender,  \  was  struck 
by  a  fact  in  his  conduct  which  seemed  to  throw  great 
light  on  the  origin  of  society,  and  indeed  accounts  for 
the  primary  associations  of  mankind  on  very  satisfac 
tory  grounds.  Certain  characteristic  qualities  per 
vade  the  different  sexes  of  all  animals.  The  indi 
vidual  in  question,  after  passing  his  kittenhood,  be 
came  remarkably  disposed  to  roaming,  deserted  the 
house  to  wander  in  the  fields,  and  so  strong  were  his 
propensities  to  a  savage  life,  that  a  little  ill  treat 
ment  or  neglect  at  home,  would,  I  think,  have  com 
pletely  estranged  him  from  domestic  habits.  Not  so 
with  the  she-cat  of  the  same  litter ;  she  always 
courted  the  protection  of  the  house.  What  I  think 
may  be  clearly  deduced  from  this  fact  is,  that  women 
took  the  lead  in  the  civilization  of  society,  since 
men  were  strongly  prone  to  lead  a  wild,  wandering 
life,  which  the  weakness  and  tenderness  of  the  other 
sex  led  them  to  counteract ;  and  as  philosophers  are 
generally  agreed  that  society  would  gradually  de 
cline,  and  in  all  probability  become  finally  extinct, 
if  women  were  annihilated,  it  is  extremely  inter- 


40  MEMOIR  ON 

esting  to  consider  them  as  the  first  cause  of  so 
ciety,  as  well  as  of  its  continuance,  and  to  the  exis 
tence  of  which  they  give  all  the  attractions  and  em 
bellishments  it  possesses. 

3.  To  those  who  have  studied  the  philosophy  of 
sounds,  and  are  familiar  with  the  principles  of  vibra 
tions,  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  state,  that  this  modu 
lation,  which  indeed  speaks  for  itself,  is  produced 
only  when  the   animal  is  in  a  state  of  contentment, 
approaching  to  pleasure,  but  probably  not  stronger 
than  satisfaction.     That  it  might  be  placed  neverthe 
less  beyond  a  doubt,  I  ascertained  from  numerous  ex 
periments,  that  cats,  in  the  receiver  of  an  air  pump, 
only  partially  exhausted,  or  deprived  for  an  unusual 
time  of  their  food,  or  with  their  feet  wet,  or  harass 
ed  with  love,   never   made   this  noise ;    and  I  am 
thoroughly  convinced  that  men  in  any  of  these  situa 
tions  would  never  feel  in  a  state  of  complacency  cor 
responding  to  the  humour  of  cats  when  purring,  or  to 
abbreviate  my  expressions  by  the  use  of  an  epithet 
which  has  been  already  introduced  with  great  felici 
ty,  they  would  not  feel  in  a  purring  humour. 

4.  Though  not  immediately   connected  with  the 
subject,  there  is  a  difference  between  the  dog  and 
cat  highly  worthy  of  remark.     A  dog  who  has  been 
faithful  to  his  master  for  years,  and  to  whom  he  is  un 
der  great  obligations,  may  be  cruelly  beaten  by  him, 
yet  will  he  crouch  servilely  at  his  feet  and   solicit 
his  mercy  ;  but  a  cat,  after  being  treated  for  years 
with  kindness,  will,  if  you  accidentally  tread  on  its 
paw  or  tail,  inflict  instant  vengeance  with  its  talons. 
This  indicates   a  proud   sense  of  its  rights,  and  a 


THE  PURRING  OF  CATS.  41 

dignified  assertion  of  them,  that  presents  something 
truly  genuine. 

5.  The  learned  Lord  Monboddo  has  supposed,  that 
mankind  originated  from  a  band  of  monkies  on  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  who,  having  by  some 
accident  attained  the   use  of  a  particular  muscle  of 
the  thumb,  gradually  improved,  wore  off  their  tails, 
and  became  men.     It  is  not  my  intention  to  discuss 
his  lordship's  ingenious  theory,  but  merely  to  state, 
that  from  a  great  variety  of  observations,  I  am  fully 
satisfied  that  cats,  even  if  they  should   ever  succeed 
in  wearing  off  their  tails,  would  never  be  transform 
ed  into  men. 

6.  When  cats  wink,  or  keep  one  eye  open,  while 
the  other  is  shut,  a  very  common  movement  of  their 
optical  nerves,  I  have  ascertained  that  it  is  owing  to 
the  great  irritability  of  the  iris  of  their  eyes,  affected 
by  the  rays  of  light  striking  too  forcibly  upon  them  ; 
and  that   it   is  never  with  them  a  significant  expres 
sion  of  humour,  as  it  is  with  individuals  among  men. 

The  concatenation  of  my  subject  has  now  brought 
me  to  the  catastrophe,  which  is  the  explanation, 
hitherto  unattempted,  of  the  mode  in  which  the 
noise  is  made,  and  which  I  am  enabled  to  state  in  the 
most  categorical  terms.  The  predisposition  of  the 
animal's  feelings,  occasioned  by  favourable  circum 
stances,  having  placed  it  in  a  state  of  contentment ; 
its  satisfaction  is  evinced  by  a  peculiar,  stifling  arres- 
tation  and  audible  emission  of  its  breath,  which  in 
music  is  expressed  by  the  term  smozzicato  ;  the  vital 
or  respirable  gas  being  inhaled  in  the  ordinary  mnri- 

ner,  and  passing  the  regular  orifices  of  the  lung?,  is 
4  * 


42  ON  THE  PURRING  OF  CATS. 

forced  into  a  sort  of  spiral  convolution  in  its  passage 
along  the  epiglottis,  and  retained  in  the  mouth  by 
a  contraction  of  the  lips,  that  prevent  its  instantane 
ous  escape,  while  a  contraction  of  the  costal  muscles 
operating  upon  it  with  increased  vehemence,  it  is 
forced,  by  a  repercussion  against  the  internal  surface 
of  the  teeth  and  jaws,  to  move,  in  a  state  of  compres 
sion  and  partial  condensation,  along  the  extremely 
rough  surface  of  the  tongue  in  a  longitudinal  direction, 
till  checked  by  the  newly  issued  respiration  from  the 
lungs,  it  escapes  by  an  eddying  movement  out  of  the 
corners  of  the  mouth,  where  it  plays  among  the 
whiskers  like  the  zephyr  on  the  strings  of  the  Eolian 
harp,  but  producing  a  sound  incomparably  more 
grateful.  I  flatter  myself  that  this  clear,  concise  and 
simple  explanation  will  render  this  formerly  abstruse 
subject  familiar  to  the  meanest  capacity. 


A  DISSERTATION  UPON 


THINGS   IN  GENERAL, 


AFTER  THE  MANNER  OF  SEVERAL  AUTHORS. 


From  the  Anthology,  April,  1810. 


IF  the  importance  of  any  topic,  or  the  variety  of 
details  it  involves,  could  ever  deter  any  author  from 
his  purpose,  the  subject  of  this  dissertation  would 
produce  that  effect.  But  being  animated  and  prepar 
ed  for  the  task  by  a  long  course  of  previous  studies, 
and  convinced  of  its  utility,  I  feel  confident,  if  my 
readers  are  not  slow  in  taking  leave  of  a  subject, 
and  have  sufficient  elasticity  to  bound  from  one  place 
to  another  in  rather  quick  succession,  that  we  may 
all  of  us  be  edified  by  its  execution. 

It  will  be  fair  however,  in  the  outset,  to  caution 
all  those  folks  who  can  boggle  at  any  leap,  not  to 
mount :  if  they  cannot  dash  through  any  hedge  or 
over  any  ditch,  they  will  only  fatigue  themselves  for 
nothing,  and  lose  all  the  pleasure  of  the  chase.  If 


44  DISSERTATION  ON 

they  are  in  at  any  death,  it  will  most  probably  be 
their  own.     The  game  is  to  be  pursued 

"  O'er  bog,  or  steep,  through  strait,  rough,  dense,  or  rare  ;" 

nor  could  any  ingenuity  make  it  otherwise. 

The  difficulty  in  this  discussion  is  very  different 
from  that  which  happens  in  going  to  law  ;  it  is  not  in 
getting  out,  but  in  getting  in.  Once  fairly  impelled, 
the  motion  will  be  rapid  enough,  though  in  the  com 
et  like  eccentricity  of  the  course,  those  who  resolve 
to  proceed,  like  Whiston's  "  damned,"  will  be  chill 
ed  in  the  remotest  regions  of  Saturn  at  one  period, 
and  scorched  in  traversing  the  realms  of  the  sun  at 
another.  A  meditation  on  the  plurality  of  worlds, 
or  deciding  whether  the  moon  has  an  atmosphere, 
would  be  simpler  operations  than  the  one  before  us. 

Having  arrived  however  at  such  a  prodigious 
height,  it  will  be  well  to  look  down  on  this  little, 
whirling,  twisting,  turnip-shaped  globe,  and  taking  a 
bird's  eye  view  of  its  surface,  gradually  descend  to 
its  nearest  mountains,  the  Andes,  the  Alps,  Teneriffe, 
Etna,  Caucasus ;  and  while  stepping  from  one  summit 
to  another,  as  ladies  do  on  the  most  prominent  stones 
in  crossing  a  muddy  street,  reflect,  for  every 
moment  must  be  employed,  that  ail  matter  exists 
in  three  forms,  solidity,  fluidity,  and  aeriform 
elasticity ;  and  then,  the  existence  of  matter  being 
ascertained,  we  may  calmly  alight  on  the  blue  hills 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Boston ;  from  which  latter 
place  the  nature  of  spirit  may  be  easily  considered. 


THINGS  IN  GENERAL.  45 

Spirit  is  joined  with  matter  only  in  man.  The 
physical  part  of  man  is  composed  of  two  forms  of 
matter,  solidity  and  fluidity,  with  which  the  moral 
part  is  united,  but  in  what  manner  philosophers  are 
not  agreed.  This  however  is  of  no  great  conse 
quence  ;  their  action  upon  each  other  is  strange  and 
often  contradictory  in  its  effects.  Some  individuals 
have  more  flesh,  and  others  have  more  mind.  One 
thing  only  is  certain  respecting  it,  that  the  extent,  the 
lightness,  the  elasticity,  or  the  force  of  the  mind,  do 
not  depend  on  the  greater  or  less  quantity  of  flesh. 
Thus  far  of  man  and  woman  too  in  their  individual 
state. 

Man  in  his  social  state  is  more  important.  To  de 
fine  and  class  him  as  a  solitary  being,  or  as  a  so 
cial  one,  is  attended  with  almost  insuperable  diffi 
culty.  Flato  himself  tailed  in  the  former  instance  ; 
for  a  deplumed  cock  answered  to  his  description.* 
The  most  satisfactory  definition  is  a  discovery  of  mo 
dern  times  ;  man  is  a  cooking  animal.  The  social 
state  of  man  has  also  given  rise  to  many  different 
opinions ;  but  after  all,  that  of  Champfort  is  the  sim 
plest,  and  perhaps  the  best :  "  Society,"  says  he,"  is 
composed  of  two  classes; — of  those  who  have  better 
dinners  than  appetites,  and  those  who  have  better 
appetites  than  dinners." 

Man  is  the  creature  of  education,  and  ought  not  to 
be  bred  above  or  below  his  rank,  a  rule  which  is  vi 
olated  both  ways  in  this  country.  Take  an  instance 
of  the  latter,  the  former  is  in  every  man's  way. 

*  Vid.  vet.  schol.  Grec, 


46  DISSERTATION  ON 

Nathan  was  the  son  of  a  country  gentleman  ;  he  was 
sent  to  an  academy  to  learn  Latin,  and  his  catechism. 
When  at  home,  there  was  no  indulgence  for  him  in 
the  parlour,  and  perfect  indifference  about  his  asso 
ciating  with  his  father's  labourers :  He  was  however 
regularly  taught  not  to  steal,  because  it  was  a  viola 
tion  of  the  eighth  commandment,  and  never  suffered 
to  grin  after  the  sun  went  down  on  Saturday  night, 
till  it  rose  again  on  Monday  morning.  In  due  time 
he  went  to  college.  By  the  care  of  a  lady,  who  had 
some  experience  of  life,  and  who  was  greatly  ad 
mired  in  the  country,  he  was  furnished  with  a  set  of 
principles,  written  in  large  copy  hand  and  fastened 
into  his  pocket  book.  His  progress  was  for  a  time 
surprising ;  those  who  had  the  care  of  him,  began  to 
flatter  themselves  that  he  had  no  genius,  and  that  he 
would  make  a  useful  man.  Alas  !  the  fairest  hopes 
are  often  blasted  !  It  was  in  his  sophomore  year,  one 
luckless,  murky  night,  that  he  lost  his  pocket  book — 
and  his  principles  were  in  it ! — He  now  became  fond  of 
sitting  in  an  oblique  position,  and  wrote  his  themes  in 
blank  verse  ;  these  striking  resemblances  to  Milton 
soon  bewildered  him,  and  made  him  blind  to  his  du 
ty.  He  went  through  ^  college — his  further  history 
may  be  easily  imagined. 

The  mention  of  themes  recals  to  mind  a  few  de 
sultory  rules  for  composition  and  conversation,  which 
have  been  lately  collected  ;  and  in  a  treatise  of  this 
kind,  no  hint  must  be  passed  by,  lest  it  should  never 
occur  again. 

1.  If  you  wish  to  convince  people  by  argument, 
b  egin  by  insulting  their  feelings,  and  rousing  their 
passions.  Vide  our  political  writers,  passim. 


THINGS  IN  GENERAL.  47 

2.  If  you  are  writing  upon  political  economy,  draw 
your  authorities  from  Petrarch  and  Dante. 

3.  If  you   quote   from   the   Latin   poets,  choose 
Claudian  and  Statius,  or  in  case  of  need,  Sannazarius 
or  Buchanan.     To  cite  Virgil  and  Horace  is  a  stale 
college  trick. 

4.  If  you  seek  for  the  sublime,  and  are  not  afraid 
of  floundering,  look  over  the  4th  of  July  orations, 
and  the  addresses  to  the  Charitable  Fire  Society. 

5.  If  you  wish  to  attain  general  views,  and  what 
the  painters  call  a  large  manner,  consult  the  French 
state  papers.     The  Dutch  have  windmills  innumer 
able,  they  smoke  almost  as  much  as  the  Americans, 
and  drink  more  gin;  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
country  is  by  petticoats  and  breeches  surrounded  as 
many  times  as  Erebus  was  by  Styx.     Even  the  fat 
burgomasters  of  the   present  day  had  heard    of  the 
De  Ruyters  and  Van  Tromps,  the  De  Wits,  and  the 
Princes  of  Orange  ;  but  the  French  are  not  puzzled 
by  all  these  facts  ;  the  French  emperor  in  casting 
his  eyes  over  Europe,  puffed  away  the  fog  and  tobac 
co  smoke  that  covered  the  country,  and  saw  at  once 
that  Holland  was  only  "  the  alluvion  of  the  Rhine." 

6.  Always  speak  to  the  purpose  ;  do  not  attempt 
to  teach  a  blind  man  painting.  In  Andover  you  would 
descant  upon  the    apathy   consequent    on    too  much 
mildness  of  character,  harmony  and  concord  in  the 
heads  of  an  institution.     In   Cambridge,  you  would 
dwell  on  the  confusion  incident  upon  too  much  ener 
gy,  and  upon   the  calamities    attending  early  mar- 


48  DISSERTATION  ON 

7.  If  you  are  engaged  in  teaching,  make   use  of 
classick  methods.    For  instance,  do  you  want  to  give 
ladies,  who  are   frightened  at   the  ugliness   of  the 
words,  an  idea  of  synthesis  and  analysis,  take  a  group 
of  them  making  patchwork,  and  then,  like  the  man 
who  discovered  that  he  had  been  speaking  prose  all 
his  life,  they  will  be  surprised  at  finding  that  they 
are   performing  both  those  operations  at  the  same 
time.     They  are  putting  together  pieces  of  calico, 
which  is  synthesis,  and  they  are  taking  to  pieces  the 
characters  of  their  acquaintance,  which  is  analysis. 

8.  If  you  undertake  any  work,  make  the  frame 
of  it  elastic,  so  that  you  may  change  its  title  or  its 
form,  if  it  should  be  rendered  necessary  by  events. 
Make  it  a  sort  of  polypus,  so  that  if  you  cut  off  its 
head  or  its  tail,  another  will  grow,  or  if  you  split  it 
down  in  the  middle,  it  will  become  two  perfect  bodies. 
Contrive  your  book  like  those  rare  houses,  which 
we  see  advertised  in  the  country,  "  as  admirably  cal 
culated  for  the   private  gentleman,   trader,  or  tavern- 
keeper." 

9.  If  you  should  be  annoyed  by  punsters,    which 
happens  to  many  an  honest  man,   repeat    the    fol 
lowing  sentence  from  the  illustrious  Martinus  Scrib- 
lerus,  and  overwhelm  them.     This  sort   of  gentry 
are  not  much  read  in  the  ancient  authors,  and  will  be 
easily  confounded.       If   the   conversation    does  not 
lead  to  it,  lug  it  in  by  the  head  and  shoulders  ;  wit 
and  statesmen  are   both  introduced  in  this  manner 
every  day. — Figure  to  yourself  the  dismay  of  a  pun 
ster  assailed  by  a  galaxy  of  puns  like  the  following : 
— Who  is  not  governed  by  the  word  led  ?  Our  noble- 


THINGS  IN  GENERAL.  49 

men  and  drunkards  are  pimp-led,  physicians  and 
pulses  fee-led,  their  patients  and  oranges  pil-led,  a 
new  married  man  and  an  ass  bride-led,  an  old  marri 
ed  man  and  a  horse  sad-led,  cats  and  dice  are  rat-led, 
swine  and  nobility  are  sty-led,  a  coquette  and  a  tin 
der-box  are  spark-led,  a  lover  and  a  blunderer  are 
grove-led." 

Having  got  from  man  as  an  individual  to  man  as  a 
social  being,  the  natural  order  of  the  subject  leads  to 
a  consideration  of  th*j  form  of  government,  best  cal 
culated  for  the  general  interests  of  society.  Mon 
archy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy,  have  each  their 
several  advantages,  and  of  those  attending  the  latter, 
we  have  daily  experience  in  this  most  enlightened 
country.  But  there  is  one  form  of  government, 
which  legislative  theorists  have  strangely  passed 
over  ;  and  though  it  has  been  common  in  all  ages, 
from  the  time  of  Socrates  to  the  present,  it  is  proba 
ble  that  no  theory  of  it  exists,  riot  even  in  the  pi 
geon  holes  of  the  Abbe  Sieyes  himself.  A  gyneco- 
cracy  is  the  most  admirable  of  ail  governments,  and 
models  of  it  in  action  may  every  where  be  found. 
If  perpetual  activity,  vigilance,  and  a  steady  rein,  be 
valuable  qualities,  no  species  of  rule  possesses  them 
so  remarkably  as  a  gynecocracy.  Theoretical  le 
gislators,  individuals  who  are  fond  of  proposing 
amendments  to  our  constitutions,  will  do  well  to 
study  the  nature  of  this  government  ;  many  of 
them  may  have  an  opportunity  without  stirring 
from  home,  and  at  farthest  will  only  have  to  visit 
some  of  their  neighbours.  The  Corinthian  capital 

owed  its  origin  to  a  weed  growing  beside  a  stone  : 
5 


SO  DISSERTATION  ON 

the  government  of  a  nation  may  be  perhaps  amelio 
rated,  or  at  least  changed  by  contemplating  the  police 
of  a  single  family. 

Motives  to  action  must  exist,  whatever  may  be  the 
form  of  government.  In  the  savage  state,  hunger  is 
the  only  one  that  urges  the  biped  to  exertion ;  but 
in  a  social  state  they  are  numerous.  They  are  ea 
sily,  and  indeed  advantageously  converted  into  pas 
sions,  and  here  the  great  difficulty  arises,  which  is, 
to  controul  the  bad  and  encourage  the  good  pas 
sions.  Anger,  for  instance,  is  the  most  common,  yet 
anger  is  turbulent,  vindictive,  unjust,  and  the  cause 
of  a  thousand  evils.  In  a  single  man  it  may  cause 
the  misery  of  millions.  Read  the  Iliad,  and  judge  of 
its  effects ;  the  poem  is  founded  upon  them.* 

Wealth,  the  applause  of  mankind,  and  a  long 
life  of  glory  are  held  out  as  motives  ;  yet  all  these 
may  be  easily  shewn  to  be  unreal,  or  contemptible. 
Hear  what  the  poet  says  of  wealth. 

Riches  are  oft  by  guilt  or  baseness  earn'd, 
Oft  dealt  by  chance  to  shield  a  lucky  knave, 
Or  throw  a  cruel  sunshine  on  a  fool. 

So  much  for  riches.  The  prosperity  of  a  long  life, 
or  the  desire  of  glorious  fame,  are  equally  subject 
to  doubt,  as  is  fully  proved  by  the  celebrated  Portu 
guese  poet,  Luis  Rafael  Soye,  whose  works  are 

*  The  reader  is  requested  to  peruse  the  first'twenty  lines,  and 
indeed  the  whole  book  may  be  read  to  great  advantage. 


THINGS  IN  GENERAL.  51 

doubtless  familiar  to  all  my  readers,  who  has  these 
beautiful  thoughts  in  the  75th  stanzas  of  his  llth 
night. 

Quanto  he  vario  o  Destino  !  quao  voluvel 
Dos  homans  distribue  as  varies  sortes  ! 
A  hums  castiga  com  eternos  loiros, 
Premeia  a  outros  com  infaustas  mortes. 


THE 


NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW, 


THIS  work  under  the  title  of  the  North  American 
Review  and  Miscellaneous  Journal,  was  begun  by 
me,  and  the  first  number  published  in  May,  1815. 
It  was  originally  intended  to  combine  the  properties 
of  a  magazine  and  review,  and  was  issued  every  two 
months.  It  continued  in  this  manner  till  December, 
1818,  when  it  was  changed  to  a  quarterly  publica 
tion.  The  running  number  in  continuation  from  the 
beginning  is  retained,  but  when  the  work  came  into 
the  charge  of  the  present  editor,  it  is  noted  in  the 
title,  as  being  a  new  series,  the  numbers  of  which 
are  also  given. 

My  motives  in  this  undertaking  were  not  wholly 
selfish.  I  thought  such  a  work  would  be  of  public 
utility,  and  that  there  was  talent  enough  in  this  vi 
cinity  to  give  it  ample  support.  I  began  it  without 
sufficient  arrangement  for  aid  from  others,  and  was 
in  consequence  obliged  to  write  more  myself  than 
was  suitable  for  a  work  of  this  description,  which 
requires  a  variety  of  style,  and  much  more  elaborate 


KORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW.  53 

investigation  of  the  various  subjects  discussed,  than 
any  one  person  can  possibly  give.  I  was  however 
assisted  occasionally  by  the  kindness  of  some  of  the 
ablest  writers  we  possess.  I  did  not  give  my  name 
as  editor,  because  it  never  was  my  intention  to  con 
tinue  the  work  more  than  two  years,  and  because 
among  other  reasons,  I  had  no  pretensions  which 
would  justify  ambition  in  the  line  of  editorship :  nev 
er  meaning,  however,  to  deny  my  responsibility  to 
any  person  who  might  feel  himself  aggrieved  by  any 
thing  contained  in  its  pages. 

No  attempt  was  ever  made  to  extend  the  subscrip 
tion  to  this  work  by  any  one  of  the  scientific  kinds  of 
puffing.  Spontaneous  encouragement  was  very  rare, 
and  I  believe  I  was  more  indebted  to  some  person  in 
Baltimore  wholly  unknown  to  me,  for  friendly  noti 
ces  of  the  work,  than  to  any  other  quarter.  It  was 
my  belief,  that  every  literary  undertaking  would 
place  itself  on  its  proper  level  in  public  estimation 
in  spite  of  friends  or  enemies ;  a  theory  which  has 
proved  true  in  this  instance,  by  the  parallel  ex 
tension  of  patronage  with  its  increased  merit.  The 
same  principle  made  me  disregard  calumny,  whether 
written  or  printed,  because  if  the  work  was  deserving 
of  public  favour  it  would  survive  all  the  attacks  of 
enmity  and  ignorance.  There  was  one  instance  how 
ever,  that  for  a  moment  I  felt  a  disposition  to  answer, 
till  recollecting  Mr.  Ames''  remark,  that  "  a  Lie  would 
travel  from  Maine  to  Georgia  while  Truth  was 
getting  on  his  boots  ;"  and  that  my  answer  could 
never  follow  the  libel  to  its  obscure  retreats,  I  suf 
fered  it  to  perish  quietly  with  the  thousands  that 
5* 


54  A'ORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW. 

had  gone  before  it.  I  am  induced  now  to  mention 
the  circumstance  without  going  into  much  detail,  in 
the  hope  that  it  may  produce  some  useful  inferen 
ces  ;  and  lead  many  worthy  men  in  some  parts  of  the 
United  States,  to  receive  with  greater  caution,  some 
of  the  vilifying  statements  that  have  been  made 
against  this  quarter  of  the  country. 

A  weekly  newspaper  in  Boston,  one  of  those  ephe 
meral  journals,  which  rise  in  all  parts  of  the  coun 
try,  like  the  autumnal  exhalations  from  our  swamps, 
often  as  virulent,  but  fortunately  of  as  short  duration ; 
gave  in  a  series  of  numbers  some  remarks  on  an 
American  edition  of  Bigland's  history,  and  took  for 
their  motto  a  sentence  from  the  North  American  Re 
view,  noting  the  article  from  which  it  was  taken, 
which  was  a  review  of  the  work  entitled  "  the  Unit 
ed  States  and  England  ;"  one  of  the  answers  to  the 
Quarterly  Review.  I  wrote  the  long  article  upon 
this  book,  with  an  intention  of  corroborating  the 
statements  of  the  New-York  pamphlet,  from  which 
copious  extracts  were  made,  and  of  which  1  spoke  in 
favourable  terms,  as  1  thought  it  deserved.  In  con 
cluding  my  remarks,  I  said,  referring  to  the  libel  in 
the  Quarterly  Review,  "  we  hope  that  the  indigna 
tion,"  &c. :  as  the  sentence  will,  presently  appear  in 
a  quotation,  it  is  unnecessary  to  transcribe  it  here. 

This  sentence  so  quoted,  caught  the  eye  of  a  New 
York  editor,  and  in  the  genuine  spirit,  of  "  uncandid 
dulness,"  he  applied  it  to  the  American  work,  and 
not  to  the  British  Review.  The  opportunity  to  ca 
lumniate  the  people  of  Boston,  and  the  first  number 
•f  a  new  literary  Journal,  was  not  to  be  overlooked. 


NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW.  55 

The  following  effusion  appeared  in  consequence  in 
the  New-York  National  Advocate. 

NEW-ENGLAND  POLITICS. 

i;  The  Boston  politicians  tenaciously  adhere  to  the 
distinctive  appellation  of  New-England,  for  the  sec 
tion  of  the  country  they  inhabit,  as  though  they  de 
rived  more  honour  from  the  land  from  which  they 
descended,  than  from  that  in  which  they  were  born 
and  reside.  But  they  are  still  more  inflexibly  at 
tached  to  the  politics  of  old  England  when  opposed 
to  those  of  our  own  country,  than  to  the  name,  as 
different  from  that  of  the  United  States.  Thus  we 
see  them  boasting  of  being  New-England  men,  while 
they  pretend  to  be  ashamed  that  they  are  Americans, 
and  in  all  cases  affecting  the  honour  and  interest  of 
the  two  countries,  giving  old  England  the  preference 
to  the  United  States.. 

"  Our  readers  have  heard  and  read  of  "  The 
United  States  and  England,"  the  production  of  ge 
nius  and  patriotism,  drawn  from  a  gentleman  of  this 
city,  to  repel  a  furious,  wanton  and  malevolent  attack 
on  this  country  in  the  British  Quarterly  Review. 
And  how  should  an  able  and  worthy  champion  of  na 
tive  character  and  manner,  be  treated,  but  with  gra 
titude  and  respect!  Yet  we  find  a  Boston  publication, 
a  thing  called  the  North  American  Review  ;  saying 
of  this  respectable  and  popular  work  : 

'  We  hope  that  the  indignation  this  lib'd  has  excit 
ed  among  men  of  all  parties  in  America,  may  create 
some  sensation  in  England  ;  and  that  it  may  be  treat 
ed  eventually  with  the  scorn  it  merits  ." 


56  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW. 

u  Here  is  North  American  sentiments  with  a  ven 
geance  !  What  pensioned  hireling  of  a  British  ministry, 
or  toad-eater  to  the  pure  and  exemplary  prince  re 
gent,  would  have  said  more,  of  an  American  produc 
tion,  called  for  by  the  reputation  of  his  country,  and 
properly  modelled  after  the  example  set  by  the  Bri 
tish  libeller  of  us — who  no  doubt  is  justified  by  these 
Bostonian  vipers  in  all  his  insolent  abuse  and  profligate 
vulgarity  of  style,  since  it  is  levelled  at  the  United 
States  ! 

"  If  these  Anglo  American  scribblers,  these  English 
lasiards  and  spaniels  in  literature  and  sentiment,  es 
cape  a  richly  merited  reward  of  public  scorn  and  ex 
ecration,  it  must  be  by  a  rapid  descent  into  the  tomb 
of  oblivion  which  kindly  receives  all  such  mushroom 
reptiles  and  shelters  them  from  the  lash  of  justice ." 

This  quotation  is  inserted  without  any  alteration, 
except  putting  a  few  words  in  italics — where  truth, 
and  decency  receive  so  many  outrages,  grammar  of 
course  will  be  treated  with  little  respect,  and  one  or 
two  slight  offences  against  the  latter,  may  be  over 
looked.  These  remarks  were  republished  in  the 
National  Intelligencer,  and  some  ardent  writer  sprang 
forward  with  a  threatening  series  of  numbers,  in  which 
the  character  of  these  "  Boston  traitors"  was  to  be 
unmasked  and  displayed.  Probably  he  soon  discovered 
his  mistake,  for  only  the  first  number  came  out, — but 
neither  in  that  paper,  nor  in  the  New-York,  nor  Bos 
ton  one,  did  the  slightest  explanation  or  acknowledge 
ment  appear,  though  the  last  of  these,  and  probably 
both  the  others,  must  have  known  what  an  egregious- 
ly  malignant  representation,  they  had  so  widely  cir 
culated. 


NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW.  57 

I  have  quoted  only  the  part  immediately  relating 
to  the  North  American  Review,  but  it  was  followed 
in  the  same  strain  with  abuse  of  Boston  and  the 
citizens  of  New-England  generally.  The  whole 
communication  was  closed  with  this  exquisite  query  : 
Si  Is  it  the  character  of  these  people  the  Editor  of 
the  Essex  Register  is  so  fearful  the  Olive  Branch 
will  injure  ?  !  !"* 

The  powerful  influence  of  the  French  revolution 
and  the  universal  interest  it  excited  in  all  civilized 
countries,  not  only  pervading  the  literature  of  every 
nation,  but  marshalling  all  the  world  in  its  contagious 
quarrels,  had  for  well-known  reasons  an  extraordi 
nary  dominion  in  this  country.  Political  sympathies 
and  antipathies  gave  a  bias  to  all  our  opinions.  In 
addition  to  which,  we  were  so  yonng  in  thp.  career 
of  literature,  we  ran  so  much  risk  of  adopting  bar 
barisms  both  in  taste  and  sentiment,  from  the  pas 
sionate  vehemence  of  party  feelings,  and  the  pre 
sumption  of  rash  pretenders,  that  many  sound  scho 
lars  saw  no  other  mode  to  avert  the  threatened  evils, 
than  to  shew  unlimited  deference  to  the  great  stan 
dards  of  English  learning.  In  following  this  course, 
they  sometimes  confounded  the  ideas  of  time  and 
space  ;  and  blended  the  respect  that  was  due  to 
what  was  consecrated  by  the  former,  with  a  defe- 

*  The  late  leanied  Dr.  Bentley  of  Salem,  edited  gratuitously 
and  most  industriously,  the  Essex  Register,  a  "  republican" 
newspaper.  Being  struck  with  the  mischievous  character  of  the 
;{  Olive  Branch"  he  deprecated  its  injurious  tendency,  and  thus 
exposed  himself  to  this  taunting  reproof  from  those,  who  were 
5ts  admirers  from  the  most  natural  motives. 


5B  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW. 

rence  to  opinions  protected  only  by  the  latter,  which 
might  be  often  prejudiced,  interested,  and  unsound. 
The  danger  that  might  thus  arise  is  obvious ;  it  may 
be  compared  to  the  apprehension  that  is  felt  in  some 
countries  respecting  those  who  believe  in  the  papal 
supremacy,  which  if  it  could  be  confined  to  spirituals 
would  be  almost  a  matter  of  indifference,  and  is  only 
dreaded  on  account  of  its  opening  a  passage,  to  the 
insidious  entrance  of  political  influence  and  the  pos 
session  of  temporal  power.  The  admiration  that 
was  so  justly  felt  for  the  illustrious  names  of  English 
literature-  and  politics  in  past  ages,  was  often  blindly 
given  to  their  living  descendants,  whose  infirmities 
were  invisible  at  a  distance.  These  feelings  some 
times  produced  a  little  too  much  severity  in  judging 
our  own  productions,  and  rather  more  submission  to 
foreign  criticism,  than  impartial  justice  would  have 
dictated  in  either  case.  The  consequence  was  occa 
sionally,  a  want,  or  rather  a  suppression,  of  national 
feeling  and  independent  judgment,  that  would  sooner 
or  later  have  become  highly  injurious. 

To  counteract  the  tendency  of  this  state  of  things, 
which  if  I  have  not  succeeded  in  describing  very 
clearly,  will  still  be  understood  by  many  persons, 
was  one  of  the  chief  motives  in  establishing  this 
Review.  The  spirit  of  the  work  was  national  and 
independent  as  regarded  foreign  countries,  yet  not 
falling  under  the  dominion  of  party  at  home  ;  and 
the  tone  of  it,  in  these  respects,  is  1  think  different 
from  that  of  any  preceding  journal.  This  tone  it 
has  always  preserved,  with  one  or  two  slight  excep 
tions,  and  I  do  not  know  how  far  my  vanity  will  be 


NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW.  59 

pardoned  in  making  a  claim  to  some  agency  in  estab 
lishing  it,  as  the  only  one,  I  have  to  any  merit  con 
nected  with  that  work. 

The  citizens  of  the  United  States  are  not  yet 
emancipated,  nor  can  they  expect  to  be  for  some 
time  to  come,  from  a  degree  of  dependence  on 
foreign  opinion  in  every  thing  regarding  literature. 
Yet  criticism  is  every  day  gaining  ground  among  us, 
obtaining  wider  influence  as  it  displays  greater  talent, 
and  the  period  is  perhaps  not  very  distant  when 
foreign  literary  decisions  will  be  sought  for  princi 
pally  under  the  impulse  of  curiosity ;  and  our  own 
tribunals  will  be  esteemed  the  supreme  authority. 
The  North-American  Review  is  contributing  in  every 
number  to  produce  this  effect ;  and  it  certainly  shews 
that  there  is  a  considerable  stock  of  literature 
already  accumulated  in  the  country,  when  such  a 
journal  should  have  continued  for  several  years 
increasing  in  value,  and  preserving  itself  from  the 
bigoted  sway  of  any  political  or  religious  party. 
When  we  consider  what  the  Monthly  Anthology 
was  in  1810,  and  what  the  North-American  Review 
is  in  1820,  the  increase  in  this  department,  at  least 
rivals  any  other  in  this  most  prolific  and  expanding 
country.  The  enlightened  observer  will  find  it  to 
keep  pace  with  most  of  the  statistical  facts,  connect 
ed  with  production  or  population,  that  are  obvious 
enough  to  excite  admiration  in  many,  who  are  indif 
ferent  to  the  progress  of  intellectual  efforts.* 

*  It  may  be  necessary  to  add  that  this  was  written  in  Decem 
ber  1820,  and  that  I  had  contributed  nothing  to  the  Review  fov 
two  years  previous. 


60  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW. 

The  Review  passed  from  my  hands  into  the  pos 
session  of  a  few  gentlemen  who.  own  it  in  common  ; 
writing  in  it  occasionally  themselves  and  procuring 
literary  contributions  from  others.  The  principal 
charge  of  editing  it,  is  in  the  care  of  a  gentleman 
singularly  qualified  for  the  task,  and  well  prepared 
for  the  highest  departments  of  editorship.  In  ori 
ginally  undertaking  the  work,  I  flattered  myself  that 
it  would  eventually  come  under  his  direction,  and  I 
trust  it  will  continue  for  a  long  period  to  add  to  his 
reputation  and  to  that  of  American  literature. 


ON 


GEOLOGICAL  SYSTEMS. 


From  the  North-American  Review,  July,  1816. 


SIR, 

IF  the  following  pages  will  do  for  your  Journal,  I 
offer  them  for  insertion.  They  are  the  amount  of  a 
conversation  reduced  to  writing,  and  of  course  neces 
sarily  superficial  and  imperfect.  A  lady,  whose 
reading  was  more  among  the  lighter  books  of  litera 
lure,  than  the  ponderous  ones  of  science,  having 
met  with  some  allusions  to  the  Vulcanian  and  Nep 
tunian  theories  of  the  earth,  and  mention  of  Vulcan- 
ists  and  JVeptunists,  requested  of  me  an  explanation 
of  these  systems.  Without  pretensions  to  any  pro- 
found  knowledge  of  geology,  I  should  have  hesitated 
•at  the  task,  if  a  very  learned  dissertation  had  been 
necessary ;  but  trusting  that  my  fair  inquirer  had  too 
little  acquaintance  with  science,  to  expose  my  errors, 
if  she  would,  and  too  much  good  nature  to  do  it,  if 
she  could,  I  attempted  a  brief  exposition  of  the 
subject. 

Among  the  heathen  divinities,  there  were  two  of 
great  eminence,  whose  names  have  been  borrowed 
6 


62  ON  GEOLOGICAL  SYSTEMS. 

by  geologists,  as  very  convenient  to  designate  their 
different  theories.  Neptune  was  the  God  of  the  sea, 
the  brother  of  Jupiter,  and  drove  about  the  capri 
cious  element  he  ruled,  in  a  large  shell,  drawn  by 
sea  horses,  of  a  breed  which  are  now  extinct,  except 
in  the  designs  of  artists.  He  carried  in  his  hand  a 
fork  with  three  prongs,  called  a  trident.  As  the 
God  himself  has  not  been  seen  for  some  centuries,  a 
very  famous  nation,  who  have  driven  very  furiously 
over  the  ocean,  without  the  aid  of  horses,  had  long 
claimed  to  be  in  possession  of  his  trident,  which  has 
been  called,  "  the  sceptre  of  the  globe."  The 
world  has  generally  acceded  to  this  pretension, 
though  having  driven  with  too  much  violence,  and 
too  little  caution  against  some  who  were  travelling 
the  same  rout,  it  is  supposed,  that  a  younger  nation 
obtained  one  of  the  prongs  in  a  short  scuffle,  which 
ensued  at  last,  in  consequence  of  frequent  altercation. 

Vulcan  was  more  renowned  for  his  skill,  than  his 
good  fortune.  He  formed  a  very  brilliant,  but  unfor 
tunate  matrimonial  connexion.  His  principal  em 
ployment  was  forging  thunderbolts  for  Jupiter,  who, 
like  other  tyrants,  was  often  in  a  passion.  Our  fel 
low  townsman,  Dr.  Franklin,  has  protected  us  by 
one  of  his  discoveries,  from  the  skill  of  Vulcan,  and 
the  force  of  Jupiter  ;  and  as  he  also  contributed  to 
establish  the  liberty  of  our  country,  both  these  ex 
ploits  have  been  happily  commemorated  in  a  well 
known  line  in  Latin,  which  I  need  not  repeat. 

Vulcan's  workshops  were  situated  near  Mount 
Etna,  and  he  employed  a  number  of  gigantic  journey 
men,  with  only  one  eye  in  the  centre  of  their  fore- 


ON  GEOLOGICAL  SYSTEMS.  63 

head,  called  Cyclops.  A  very  particular  account  of 
these  people,  and  the  adventures  of  Ulysses  among 
them,  you  will  find  in  the  9th  book  of  that  most 
amusing  poem,  the  Odyssey.  It  is  impossible  not  to 
remark  here,  how  much  the  poets  can  make  out  of 
the  simplest  materials.  This  story  of  Vulcan,  his 
labours,  and  labourers,  are  all  derived  from  one  of 
the  earliest  iron  founders,  whose  workmen,  to  pro 
tect  their  eyes  from  the  intense  heat  of  the  metal, 
wore  a  leather  mask,  which  had  one  large  hole  in 
the  centre  ;  Homer  transformed  these  poor  black 
smiths  into  monsters,  and  made  them  immortal.' 

Now  Geologists  are  divided  into  two  parties  :  the 
first  say  that  this  globe  was  formed  by  the  agency  of 
fire,  and  they  are  called  Vulcanists,  from  the  God  of 
fire.  The  others  maintain  that  water  was  the  agent. 
and  are  called  Neptunists,  from  the  God  of  that 
element.  Perhaps  you  may  obtain  some  idea  of  their 
different  theories,  by  applying  them  alternately  to 
the  formation  of  that  cumbrous,  magnificent,  wed 
ding  cake,  which  stands  on  the  table  near  us,  with 
all  its  ornaments  of  gilded  box,  motto  shells,  sugared 
almonds,  &c.  &c.  In  reasoning  on  its  formation,  of 
which  I  really  know  little  more  than  of  that  of  the 
earth,  which  groans  under  its  weight ;  I  will  apply, 
alternately,  the  Neptunian  and  Vulcanian  theories, 
to  account  for  its  construction.  The  lady  here  in 
quired,  whether  these  theories  did  not  interfere  with 
the  Mosaick  account  of  the  creation  ?  I  explained  to 
her,  that  there  was  nothing  irreverent  in  these  in 
vestigations  ;  that  in  the  various  departments  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  most  pious  and  learned  theolo- 


64  ON  GEOLOGICAL  SYSTEMS'. 

gians  were  undecided  what  was  exactly  historical, 
metaphorical,  or  inspired — That  many  parts  of  it 
were  mysterious,  and  the  whole  an  object  of  faith 
and  veneration — That  men  of  science,  who  should 
be  the  last  to  interfere  with  any  thing  religious, 
conducted  their  inquiries  without  any  reference  to 
that  sacred  relation.  They  reasoned  precisely,  as 
if  no  such  account  existed. 

To  commence  with  the  Vulcanian  theory,  a  geo 
logist  of  this  school  would  say,  that  water  was  not 
an  adequate  agent  to  produce  the  effects  we  witness ; 
that  there  must  be  a  great  central  fire  to  have  formed 
this  composition  ;  that  the  surface  exhibits  the  most 
evident  marks  of  fusion,  and  in  penetrating  beneath 
it,  there  is  a  black  carbonaceous  crust,  which  is 
evidently  the  product  of  fire  ;  that  if  it  had  been  the 
product  of  water,  instead  of  the  irregular  lava  which 
now  covers  its  surface,  vegetation  would  have  ap 
peared  the  moment  the  surface  was  exposed,  and 
before  it  could  be  wholly  desiccated.  Whereas, 
the  slow  decomposition  of  a  volcanic  surface,  is  here 
shewn  by  the  scanty  vegetation  that  appears ;  be 
sides,  the  specimens  of  gold  in  a  pure  state,  must 
have  been  the  product  of  fire.  It  is  quite  clear,  that 
if  it  had  not  been  through  the  agency  of  the  princi 
ple  of  caloric,  which  pervades  and  animates  all  cre 
ation,  this  production  would  never  have  existed. 

The  Neptunist  would  say,  that  there  were  too 
many  appearances  to  leave  any  doubt  about  the 
agency  of  water :  the  amygdaloids,  mandelsteins,  or 
almond  stones,  by  their  rounded  and  washed  appear 
ance,  had  evidently  been  rolled  in  the  water,  and 


ON  GEOLOGICAL  SYSTEMS.  65 

the  incrustation  that  surrounded  them  was  the  mere 
induration  of  the  deposit,  in  which  they  had  been 
left,  after  the  water  had  receded ;  that  a  further 
convincing1  proof  might  be  found  in  those  fossile 
shells,  which  would  have  been  calcined  by  the  fire. 
These  shells  resemble  no  species  exactly,*  that  are 
now  found,  and  were  evidently  the  tenants  of  those 
ancient  waters,  which  once  covered  the  globe,  and 
have  since  been  exhaled  or  contained  within  the 
bounds  of  the  different  oceans.  Besides,  if  water 
had  not  held  the  whole  globe  in  solution,  how  could 
they  thus  be  found  on  its  highest  surfaces,  and  im 
bedded  so  deeply  in  the  interior,  forming  whole 
masses  of  zoolite  strata  ? — My  interesting  inquirer 
here  became  impatient,  which  the  reader  may  won 
der  had  not  been  the  case  sooner,  and  said,  that  as 
this  bridal  cake  was  notoriously  made  with  the  help 
of  both  fire  and  water,  why  may  not  the  geologists 
agree  to  admit  the  intervention  of  both,  and  thus 
put  an  end  to  the  dispute — My  dear  friend,  this 
would  be  fatal !  science  is  like  love,  if  there  are 
too  many  disputes,  it  expires  in  a  war  of  words ;  but 
if  it  never  excites  any  discussion,  it  will  be  extin 
guished  in  apathy.  WERNER. 

*  For  the  satisfaction  of  the  learned  reader,  I  suggest  that 
this  shell  comes  the  nearest  to  the  species  Uva,  genus  turbo, 
cochlea  alba  ventricosa,  bidcns,  Strys  cminentibus.  exatperata. 

6  * 


MEMOIR  ON  THE 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


From  the  North  American  Review,  November,  1816. 

NAUMKEAG, . 

SIR, 

IN  the  7th  number  of  your  Journal,  I  proposed 
furnishing  you  with  some  observations  on  "  the  an 
tiquity  of  the  United  States ;"  respecting  which,  I 
had  been  led  to  entertain  an  opinion  in  a  degree  dif 
ferent  from  the  one,  generally  held  on  the  subject. 
A  further  investigation  has  opened  such  a  wide  field 
of  proof  and  illustration,  that  to  embrace  the  whole 
would  require  a  more  elaborate  work,  than  I  shall 
perhaps  ever  be  willing  to  undertake.  Being  desi 
rous  however,  to  place  before  the  public  a  few  hints 
on  this  interesting  topic,  I  have  thought  the  simplest 
mode  of  doing  this,  would  be  to  throw  an  abstract  of 
these  researches  into  the  form  of  an  irregular  me 
moir.  This  paper  I  now  inclose,  and  after  what  has 
been  said,  it  is  not  necessary  to  apologize  for  the 
aK*nnce  of  all  pretension  to  extraordinary  learning, 
or  regularity  of  system  ;  if  at  any  future  time  the 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.          67 

latter  should  be  produced,  it  cannot  be  without  some 
aid  from  the  former.  In  the  mean  time,  I  trust  that 
no  plagiarist  will  take  advantage  of  the  open  man 
ner  in  which  these  primary  sketches  are  given  to  the 
public,  to  forestall  me  in  the  completion  of  a  larger 
work.  As  I  observe  that  you  do  not  secure  the 
copy-right  of  your  Journal,  and  I  have  already  suf 
fered  on  another  occasion,  from  having  my  thoughts 
taken,  without  any  credit  being  given  for  them,  I  am 
the  more  cautious  to  dwell  upon  this  point.  I  cer 
tainly  shall  not  see  my  ideas  pilfered  with  impunity  ; 
and  if  any  person  should  be  disposed  to  engage  in 
so  nefarious  a  design,  let  me  warn  him  in  the  ani 
mated  language  of  a  favourite  author  to  beware  : 
The  benevolent  Calvin,  in  accusing  the  learned 
Pighius  of  plagiarism,  has  the  following  remarks  : — 

Vellem  nunc  scire  quo  jure  ant  titulo,  meet  sic  pro  suis  usurpet. 
Si  qua  magna  esset  inter  nos  nccessitudo,  ego  hanc  conftdentiam 
amicitiae  non  difficulter  concedcrcm.  Scd  nunc  huic  veniae  non 
cst  locus.  An  quid  hostis  sum,  sejus  direptionis  in  omnia  mea 
habere  putat  ?  At  hoc  praedae  genus  nullo,  nee  jure,  nee  more, 
dffcndi  potest.  Unus  ergo  practexlus  restat,  homini  dodo  po- 
iuisse  non  minus  venire,  in  mentem  quae  dixeram,  quam  mihi 
prius  venerant.  Sed  lectores  obsecro,  si  tantum  habeant  otii,  ut 
caput  primum  libri  Pighiani  cumprimo  Institulionismeae  capite 
conferat.  Nihil  dico,  nisi  quod  non  sine  risu  ac  stomaeho  per- 
spicient  nimis  perditam  hominis  impudentiam.  Quod  si  ulte- 
rius  pergere  libeat,  pcrcurrant  quae  de  jusiificatione  tractat  in 
altero  illo  opere,  et  ad  sextum  Institutions  meae  caput  exigant  : 
minim  si  bilem  contintre  queant.  Neque enim  clanculum piratur 
aut  carptim :  neque  artificio  legtre  ita  studtt  suas  rapinas,  ut 
apud  se  natum  videatur,  quod  apud  me  legit,  sed  ilapalam  mea 
adverbum  recitat,  ut  videatur p a  ginas  ipsas  Mas  pi  grit  ia  assuisse, 
quo  dsscribendi  laborem  fugtrtl.  Si  fateretur  authorem,  cum 


MEMOIR  ON  THE 


dicer  em  muiuari  :  nunc  quid  causari  potest,  quo  minus  plagiaries 
palam  vocetur.* 

Another  motive  in  making  this  extract,  unconnect 
ed  with  the  immediate  subject  of  this  letter,  was, 
that  it  furnishes  us  from  this  great  man  himself,  with 
an  infallible  test  to  discover  his  genuine  disciples  ; 
these  words  si  bilem  continere  qucant,  are  the  true 
touchstone  ;  timidity,  locality,  credulity  may  make 
ostensible  Calvinists,  but  such  are  without  an  inqui 
sitorial  spirit,  and  are  merely  Christians,  The  real 
Calvinists  are  those,  with  whom  the  bilem  continere 
is  an  impossibility. 


MEMOIR    OX   THE   ANTIftUITY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

This  huge  rotundity  we  tread  grows  old.        Dr.  Armstrong. 

Septem   circumstantias   morales   enumerat,   quis,    quid. 

circa  quid,  et  in  quo,  quo,  cujus  gratia,  et  qualiter. 

Bradwardinusj  p.  305,  folio  edition. 

Beguyl'd  thus  with  delight  of  novelties, 
And  naturall  desire  of  countryes  state, 
So  long  they  redd  in  those  antiquities, 
That  how  the  time  was  fled  they  quite  forgate. 

Spenser  Faery  Queen. 

— It  ought  nevertheless  to  be  remarked,  that  there  are  many 
important  advantages  derived  to  our  reasoning  from  this  present 
manner  of  considering  the  subject.  The  principles  being  now 
established,  they  will  be  supported  by  a  further  induction  of 
facts  and  occurrences,  to  an  extent  and  amount,  that  it  is  im 
possible  at  this  moment  fairly  to  estimate.  Dr.  MitchilL 

*  Calvin  respons.  contra  Pighium  de  libero  arbitrio  p.  HO 
opuscul.  Theolog. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.          69 

The  first  peopling  of  America,  and  many  other 
questions  connected  with  the  early  history  of  this 
country,  have  engaged  the  attention  and  industry  of 
many  learned  men,  who  after  the  most  laborious  in 
vestigation,  have  displayed  a  vast  variety  of  opinions, 
and  come  at  last  to  the  most  opposite  conclusions  on 
the  subject.  To  borrow  a  sentence  of  great  elegance, 
it  may  be  said,  that,  u  one  has  fancied  one  thing,  an 
other  another,  and  a  third  has  guessed  a  third."*  All 
these  theories  have  some  circumstances  to  support 
them,  and  this  only  tends  to  increase  the  confusion. 
There  is  no  system  more  palpably  absurd  than  that  of 
De  Pau,  who  maintained  that  this  continent  had  recent 
ly  emerged  from  the  ocean,  and  that  its  soil  and  climate 
were  not  yet  sufficiently  dried  and  matured,  for  the 
advantageous  production  of  animal  and  vegetable  life. 
We  are  still  under  obligations  to  him  for  his  vision 
ary  system,  since  it  might  have  been  the  first  cause 
of  our  considering  a  directly  opposite  plan  to  get 
rid  of  the  obscurity  and  contradiction  in  which  the 
matter  was  involved  ;  and  thus  to  strike  out  a  theory 
which  it  may  be  hoped  will  be  hereafter  incontro- 
vertibly  established,  by  which  it  will  be  clearly  seen 
that  this  continent  is  the  primeval  one,  and  that  the 
United  States  are  the  most  ancient  nation  on  the 
globe. 

A  superficial  view  of  the  subject  may  render  some 
averse  to  this  conclusion  who  found  their  opinions 
on  chronology,  a  science  of  all  others  the  most  un 
certain.  It  is  related  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  that 

*  Dr.  Sykes's  paraphrase  on  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  in 
troduction. 


70  MEMOIR  ON  THE 

having  been  an  eye  witness  to  a  scene  that  passed 
under  his  windows,  and  hearing  the  next  day  the 
various  relations  which  were  given  of  it  by  different 
witnesses,  he  was  tempted  to  throw  the  manuscript 
of  his  History  of  the  World,  that  he  was  then 
composing,  into  the  fire.  How  many  examples  of 
recent  events  will  create  the  same  feelings,  and 
induce  us  to  view  all  history  founded  only  on  chro 
nology,  with  suspicion.  For  example,  how  many 
volumes  have  been  composed  on  the  subject  of 
the  priority  of  "  the  French  decrees  and  the  British 
Orders  in  Council ;"  and  though  the  whole  business 
was  involved  in  uncertainty,  yet  both  those  generous 
and  magnanimous  governments  assumed  that  the  oth 
er  was  the  aggressor,  and  on  this  ground  alone,  felt 
themselves  obliged  out  of  a  pure  and  noble  love  of 
justice,  to  take  our  property  wherever  it  could  be 
found.  Surely  it  behoves  us  to  appreciate  this  sci 
ence  properly  ;  no  nation  ever  suffered  so  severely 
for  a  mere  error  in  chronology. 

Facts  of  the  same  nature,  though  not  quite  of  the 
same  importance,  which  might  be  easily  multiplied, 
shew  how  vain  is  all  dependence  on  chronology. 
The  language  therefore  of  Plutarch  in  his  life  of 
Solon,  may  be  quoted  as  unanswerable  : — "  I  cannot 
persuade  myself  to  reject  it  because  of  some  chro 
nological  canons,  as  they  call  them,  which  hundreds  of 
authors  correcting,  have  not  yet  been  able  to  consti 
tute  any  thing  certain,  in  which  they  could  agree 
among  themselves  about  repugnancies."* 

*  I  had  hesitated  in  the  citations  from  Plutarch  and  Plato, 
whether  to  give  them  in  the  original  Greek  ;  a  disinclination  to 
any  thing  like  a  parade  of  learning,  which  will  be  sufficiently  ap- 


ANTIQUITY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES.          71 

The  divine  Plato,  while  giving  an  account  of  the 
Athenienses  in  his  Thimeum  and  Atlanticum,  speaks 
of  their  having  defeated  kings,  and  great  crouds  of 
people   who  came    by  sea   from    the  great  Insula 
Atlantica.      He   makes   mention  of  many  remark 
able  things  in  this  Island,  as  it  was  improperly  call 
ed,  of  the  customs  of  the   inhabitants,  describes  a 
magnificent  temple   they   possessed,   the   walls   of 
which  were  lined  with  gold  and   silver.     He  says, 
that  this  land  commenced  near  the  pillars  of  Her 
cules,  and  was  held  to  be  greater  than  Asia  and  Af 
rica,  that  it  contained  ten  kingdoms,  which  Neptune 
divided  among  his  ten  sons,  giving  Atlas  the  greatest 
empire.     He  also  tells  us  that  9000  years  before  his 
time,  the  sea  increased  with  such  mighty  power,  that 
the  island  was  sunk.     The  commentators  Marcinus, 
Ficinus  and  Plantinus,  say  Plato  was  writing  literally, 
not  allegorically,  of  which  it  seems  impossible  that  any 
person  should  have  a  doubt.  Eudoxus  would  have  us 
calculate  these  years  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyp 
tians,  which  would  make  them  only  months  :  all  the 
ancient  historiographers   and  cosmographers  called 
the  sea  where  this  island  was   sunk  Mathanticum.* 

parent  in  the  course  of  this  memoir,  decided  me  to  give  them  ia 
English.  Those  who  wish  to  consult  the  originals,  will  find 
which  are  the  best  editions  of  these  authors,  by  referring  to  Dib- 
din's  classicks.  It  is  possible,  however,  after  I  have  pursued  the 
subject  in  an  elaborate  manner,  I  may  publish  a  Personal  Nar 
rative  separately,  in  which,  as  the  public  will  naturally  look  for 
amusement,  I  shall  give  whole  pages  of  calculations,  with  lists 
of  authors  whose  very  names  they  never  before  heard. 

*  A  recent  Turkish  traveller,  Ali  Bey,  has  invented  a  fanciful 
system  which  would  have  made  the  Atalantis  to  have  formed 


72  MEMOIR  ON  THE 

Every  person  who  reads  these  two  books  of  Plato 
and  the  enlivening  remarks  of  his  commentators, 
will  be  fully  convinced  of  the  existence  of  the  great 
island  or  continent,  Atalantis,  and  will  be  ready  to 
exclaim, 

*  It  must  be  so,  Plato,  thou  reasonest  well.' 

The  unquestionable  authority  of  Spenser,  may  be 
relied  upon  to  shew  more  particularly,  the  origin  of 
the  first  inhabitants  of  the  Atalantis,  or  America,  as  it 
has  been  recently  called.  In  the  10th  canto  of  the 
second  book  of  his  immortal  Faery  Qwee?z,  from  the 
70th  to  the  78th  stanza,  he  gives  the  origin  of  these 
inhabitants  ;  he  proves  that  they  were  the  descen 
dants  of  the  man  made  by  Prometheus,  and  which  he 
animated  by  stealing  fire  from  heaven ;  and  this  is 
still  more  interesting,  because  some  doubts  existed 
respecting  the  fate  of  that  singular  individual's  pro- 
genv.  To  remove  all  possibility  of  cavil,  he  gives  us 
the  names  of  the  different  sovereigns  from  Elfe  to 
Glorian.  The  singular  and  romantick  origin  of  this 
race,  furnishes  reasons  to  suppose  that  there  was 
some  difference  in  their  formation  from  that  of  our 
species,  and  perhaps  it  may  not  be  extravagant  to 
suppose,  that  the  bones  of  a  nondescript  kind  which 
have  been  found  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States, 

part  of  Africa,  and  that  the  portion  which  was  sunk  occupied 
the  present  Bay  of  Tripoli  to  the  sea  in  its  vicinity,  while  the 
great  desert  of  Africa  was  formerly  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  Turks  may  oppress  the  modem  Greeks,  but  they  must  pros 
trate  themselves  before  their  ancestors.  This  memoir  is  too  se 
rious  to  dwell  upon  such  trifling  ;  All  Bey  cannot  prove  an  alibi 
in  this  case  of  the  Atlantis  ;  he  must  not  oppose  himself  to  Plato. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.          73 

and  which  have  puzzled  naturalists  so  much,  may  be 
the  remains  of  this  class  of  men.  The  supposition 
at  least  is  worthy  of  some  investigation.  The  fol 
lowing  verses  contain  a  brief  account  of  the  whole 
genealogy. 

But  Guyon  all  this  while  his  book  did  read, 

I*fe  yet  has  ended  ;  for  it  was  a  great 

And  ample  volume,  that  doth  far  exceed 

My  leisure  so  long  leaves  here  to  repeat  : 

It  told  how  first  Prometheus  did  create 

A  man  of  many  parts  from  beasts  deryv'd, 

And  then  stole  fire  from  heven  to  animate 

His  worke,  for  which  he  was  by  Jove  depryv'd 

Of  life  himselfe,  and  heartstrings  of  an  eagle  ryv'd. 

That  man  so  made  he  called  Elfe,  to  weet 

Quick,  the  first  author  of  all  Elfin  kynd  ; 

Who,  wandering  through  the  world  with  wearie  feet, 

Did  in  the  gardens  of  Adonis  fynd 

A  goodly  creature,  whom  he  deem'd  in  mind 

To  be  no  earthly  wight,  but  either  spright 

Or  angell,  th'  author  of  all  woman  kynd  ; 

Therefore  a  Fay  he  her  according  hight, 

Of  whom  all  Faeries  spring,  and  fetch  their  lineage  right. 

Of  these  a  mighty  people  shortly  grew, 
And  puissant  kiages  which  all  the  woild  warrayd 
And  to  themselves  all  nations  did  subdew. 
The  first  an.1,  eldest,  which  that  sceptre  sway'd, 
Was  Elfin  ;  him  all  India  obay'd, 
And  all  that  now  Ameri?a  men  call  : 
JNext  him  was  noble  Elfin* n,  who  laid 
Cleopolis  foundation  h.st  of  all, 
But  Elfiline  encloti'd  5t  with  a  golden  wall. 
7 


74  MEMOIR  ON  THE 

His  sonne  was  Elfinell,  who  overcame 

The  wicked  Gobbelines  in  bloody  field  ; 

But  Elfant  was  of  most  renowned  fame, 

Who  all  of  christall  did  Panthea  build  : 

Then  Elfar,  who  two  brethren  gyauntes  kild, 

The  one  of  which  had  two  heades,  th'  other  three  ; 

Then  Elfinor  who  was  in  magic  skill'd  ; 

lie  built  by  art  upon  the  glassy  see 

A  bridge  of  bras,  whose  sound  heven's  thunder  seem'd  to  be. 

He  left  three  sonnes,  the  which  in  order  rayn'd, 
And  all  their  offspring  in  their  dew  descents  : 
Even  seven  hundred  princes,  which  maintaynd 
With  mighty  deedes  their  sondry  governments, 
That  were  too  long  their  infinite  contents 
Here  to  record,  ne  much  materiall  ; 
Yet  should  they  be  most  famous  moniments, 
And  brave  ensample,  both  of  martiall 
And  civil  rule  to  kings  and  states  imperiall. 

After  all  these  Elfideos  did  rayne, 
The  wise  Elfideos  !  in  great  majestic 
Who  mightily  that  sceptre  did  sustayne, 
And  with  rich  spoyles  and  famous  victorie 
Did  high  advaunce  the  crown  of  Faery. 
He  left  two  sonnes  of  which  fayre  Elferon, 
The  eldest  brother,  did  untimely  dye, 
Whose  empty  place  the  mighty  Oberon 
Doubly  supplide  in  spousall  and  dominion. 

Great  was  his  power  and  glory  over  all, 

Which  him  before  that  sacred  scale  did  fill, 

That  yet  remaines  his  wide  memorial!. 

He  dying,  left  the  fairest  Tanaquill 

Him  to  succeed  therein  by  his  last  will ; 

Fairer  and  nobler  liveth  none  this  howre, 

Ne  like  in  grace,  ne  like  in  learned  skill  ; 

Therefore  they  Glorian  call  that  Glorious  flowre  ; 

Long  mayst  thou,  Glorian  !  live,  in  glory  and  great  powre. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  ?• 

Beguyl'd  thus  with  delight  of  novelties, 

And  naturall  desire  of  countryes  state, 

So  long  they  redd  in  those  antiquities, 

That  how  the  time  was  fled  they  quite  forgate  ; 

Till  gentle  Alma  seeing  it  so  late, 

Perforce  their  studies  broke,  and  them  besought 

To  thinke  how  supper  did  them  long  awaite  ; 

So  half  unwilling  from  their  bookes  them  brought 

And  fayrely  feasted,  as  so  noble  knightes  she  ought. 

A  writer  in  the  Port  Folio,  for  the  month  of  March 
1815,  seems  to  have  had  a  glimpse  of  this  hne  system 
and  to  have  lost  it  untimely.  A  perusal  of  Plato 
had  brought  him  on  the  true  scent,  hut  having  unfor 
tunately  started  a  particular  word,  he  has  hunted  it 
through  all  its  doublings  and  windings,  till  he  has  lost 
the  fine  idea  which  was  in  full  view.  The  Hebrew 
word  Peleg  caught  his  attention,  and  like  a  German 
University  he  has  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the  in 
vestigation  of  a  single  word,  and  is  of  course  nearly 
as  bare  of  ideas,  as  some  thousand  of  folios  produc 
ed  by  German  commentators.  The  following  para 
graph  will  shew  how  near  he  was  to  a  brilliant  dis 
covery.  u  We  think  there  is  sufficient  reason  to  be 
lieve,  that  land  once  connected  America  to  the  old 
world,  in  place  of  which  now  roll  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Oceans.  Over  this  continuous  land  men  and 
animals  passed.  This  land,  which,  it  is  probable, 
was  of  very  considerable  extent,  was  all  submerged, 
except  in  those  parts  of  it  which  now  appear  as  isl 
ands  in  those  seas.1"  More  regret  will  be  felt  that 
this  deserving  author  should  have  been  thus  led 
away,  since  he  discovers  so  much  of  that  genuine 


7t>  MEMOIR  ON  THE 

modesty  which  accompanies  real  merit.  There  is 
something  almost  affecting  in  the  timid  manner  with 
which  he  suggests,  that  the  land  which  occupied  the 
place  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  was,  "  it  is 
probable  of  very  considerable  extent. ," 

One  more  authority  only  will  be  adduced  for  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  but  that  one  will  be  conclusive. 
The  learned  Dr.  Mitchill,  (Ccntumvir  olim)  of  New- 
York,  who  in  seconding  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  Lafon  and  others,  throws  so  much  light  on  the 
subject  as  to  place  it  beyond  dispute.  An  abstract 
of  his  opinions,  will  be  sufficient  to  carry  conviction 
to  every  candid  mind. 

"  I  avoided  the  opportunity  which  this  grand  con 
clusion  afforded  me,  of  stating  that  America  was  the 
cradle  of  the  human  race  ;  of  tracing  its  colonies 
westward  over  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  beyond  the 
sea  of  Kamschatcka,  to  new  settlements  ;  of  follow 
ing  emigrants  by  land  and  by  water,  until  they 
reached  Europe  and  Africa  ;  and  lastly,  of  following 
adventurers  from  the  former  of  these  sections  of  the 
globe,  to  the  plantations  and  abodes  which  they  found 
and  occupied  in  America.  I  had  no  inclination  to 
oppose  the  current  opinions,  relative  to  man's  crea 
tion  and  dispersion.  I  thought  it  was  scarcely  worth 
the  while  to  inform  an  European,  that  on  coming  to 
America,  he  had  left  the  new  word  behind  him,  for 
the  purpose  of  visiting  the  old.  It  ought  neverthe 
less  to  be  remarked,  that  there  are  many  important 
advantages  derived  to  our  reasoning  from  this  pres 
ent  manner  of  considering  the  subject.  The  princi 
ples  being  now  established,  they  will  be  supported 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  77 

by  a  further  induction  of  facts  and  occurrenceSj  to 
an  extent  and  amount  that  it  is  impossible,  at  this 
moment  fairly  to  estimate.  And  the  conclusions  of 
Jefferson,  Lafon,  and  others,  favourable  to  the  great 
er  antiquity  of  American  population,  will  be  duly  re 
inforced  and  confirmed."* 

That  America  was  the  oldest  continent,  and  its  in 
habitants  the  most  ancient  people  on  the  globe,  is 
now  fairly  proved ;  and  if  this  supposition  did  not 
accord  with  reason  at  first  sight,  the  wreight  of  so 
many  great  names,  as  have  been  cited,  will  certainly 
be  sufficient  to  induce  every  lover  of  truth  to  give 
the  matter  that  careful  investigation,  which  will  be 
inevitably  rewarded  with  conviction.  This  being  es 
tablished,  the  second  point  to  be  considered,  is  the 
antiquity  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  extreme  re 
moteness  of  this  could  not  be  placed  beyond  a  doubt, 
unless  the  ancient  existence  of  the  continent  had  been 
first  demonstrated. 

Although  this  part  of  the  subject  is  more  obvious, 
it  is  not  unaccompanied  with  difficulties  to  minds 
which  reflect  deeply.  To  those  indeed,  whose  fri 
volity  and  credulity  make  them  receive  implicitly, 
the  common  cant  of  this  being,  "  an  infant  nation,  a 
youthful  nation,"  &c.  and  who  rely  upon  the  most 
fallible  and  confused  of  all  sciences,  chronology,  for 
their  belief,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  display  a  philosophi 
cal  argument  ;  but  to  more  sound  and  robust  intel 
lects,  the  conclusions  will  appear  inevitable.  The 

*  Dr.  Mitchill's  syllabus  of  a  course  of  lectures  in  Natural 
History. 

7  * 


75  MEMOIR  OK  THE 

most  embarrassing  difficulty  is,  that  there  are  some 
reasons  for  carrying  back  this  antiquity  to  a  period 
so  remote,  as  to  involve  a  considerable  degree  of 
contradiction  with  other  known  data.  One  only  of 
these  will  be  particularly  alluded  to,  and  that  is,  the 
practice  of  chewing  the  narcotick  plant,  nicotiana, 
or  tobacco.  The  learned  Caledonian  patrician,  lord 
Monboddo,  first  shewed  satisfactorily,  that  the  human 
race  is  derived  from  a  particular  species  of  monkey, 
which  once  inhabited  the  shores  of  the  Mediterrane 
an  ;  and  who  having  by  chance  acquired  the  use  of 
the  muscle  which  moves  the  thumb,  the  paw  of  the 
animal  was  at  once  converted  into  the  human  hand  ; 
and  the  prodigious  advantages  arising  from  this  source, 
enabled  them  gradually  to  improve  their  moral  an4 
physical  faculties,  obliterate  their  tails,  and  become 
men.  It  is  certain,  that  in  the  course  of  this  trans 
formation,  they  passed  through  the  state  of  ruminat 
ing  animals  ;  but  it  is  almost  impossible,  that  this 
should  not  have  taken  place  previous  to  acquiring 
the  use  of  speech.  Now  our  ruminating  animals 
have  the  faculty  of  speech,  and  yet  it  seems  cruel, 
and  discordant,  when  the  general  benevolence  of 
Mature  is  considered,  that  possessing  the  highest  fa 
culties  of  men,  they  should  still  be  subjected  to  this, 
in  them,  hideous,  filthy,  disgusting  process  of  chew 
ing  the  cud.  This  point  may  perhaps  be  elucidated 
hereafter  by  further  researches. 

The  most  infallible  method  of  deciding  on  the  real 
standing  of  a  nation,  is  not  the  examination  of  a  few 
meagre  dates,  but  a  comparison  of  its  institutions, 
its  monuments,  its  manners,  with  those  of  others. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.          1% 

How  many  leading  circumstances  are  there,  that 
place  us  on  the  exact  parallel  with  the  most  ancient 
relations,  and  even  conjectures  of  the  primitive  state 
of  society.  Philosophers  have  said,  that  before  the 
formation  of  societ}',  men  roamed  at  large,  indepen 
dent  of  each  other,  that  they  gradually  sacrificed 
a  portion  of  their  rights  to  obtain  the  security  of  go 
vernment.  Are  we  not  at  the  first  stages  in  this  re 
spect,  and  agreeing  perfectly  with  the  state  of  things 
in  the  earliest  antiquity  ?  the  first  beginnings  of  the 
arts  were  rude  and  imperfect,  architecture,  the  most 
ancient  of  them  all,  was  slow  in  its  progress  towards 
perfection.  Are  we  not  coeval  with  its  first  advan 
ces  ?  do  not  our  buildings  plainly  manifest,  that  they 
were  erected  when  the  principles  of  the  art  were 
yet  unsettled  ?  do  we  not  behold  Dorick  columns  with 
Corinthian  proportions,  and  all  the  incongruities  that 
accompany  the  origin  of  an  art  ?  The  knowledge  of 
figures  was  much  posterior  to  that  of  letters,  and 
though  the  use  of  the  latter  is  generally  known,  the 
former  is  still  in  its  infancy  :  men  in  a  savage,  prime 
val  state  can  make  long  speeches,  and  yet  are  not 
able  to  count ;  for  have  we  not  lately  seen  a  Conven 
tion,*  the  majority  of  which  was  so  deplorably  igno 
rant,  that  they  could  not  tell  what  constituted  five- 
ninths  of  a  given  number  !  It  would  be  tiresome  to 
exhibit  all  the  illustrations  that  present  themselves. 
There  is  one  monument  among  perhaps  a  thou 
sand,  that  may  be  particularized.  In  the  city  of  Lon 
don,  there  is  a  stone  placed  against  a  wall,  which  is 
called  London  stone.  Jt  is  supposed  on  solid 

*  Brunswick  Convention. 


80  MEMOIR  ON  THE 

grounds  to  be  an  ancient  milliarium  of  the  Ro 
mans,  and  it  is  presumed  that  it  was  previously 
a  sacred  stone  of  the  Druids ;  there  is  therefore 
a  tolerably  clear  history  of  this  monument.  Now 
there  is  in  Boston,  a  quadrangular  stone,  called 
the  Boston  stone,  of  which  nothing  is  known,  its 
origin  is  lost  in  the  night  of  time.  It  is  of  the 
granitick  class,  which  are  admitted  by  geologists  to 
be  the  most  ancient,  if  this  stone  then,  primitive  in 
every  sense,  is  so  ancient  that  its  history  is  lost,  and 
the  London  stone,  is  traced  for  two  or  three  thou 
sand  years,  is  it  not  probable  that  this  is  vastly  older, 
since  nothing  is  known  respecting  it  ?  Would  it  not 
be  harder  than  its  own  substance  to  deny  this  con 
clusion  ?  The  rock  itself  is  primitive,  every  vestige 
of  its  origin  is  forgotten,  it  has  therefore  existed 
from  the  creation  of  the  world.  The  clearness  of 
this  reasoning  can  only  be  equalled  by  the  following 
passage  from  the  celebrated  archbishop  Bradwar- 
dine*  in  his  admirable  treatise  in  folio,  de  natura 
causarum,  (page  853.)  "  Qnis  enim  negaverit  necesse 
esse  hac  necessitate  sequente,  deumfacere  quicquid  im 
mediate  Jit  ab  ipso,  f-icut  ft  hac  necessitate  omne  quod 
«,vf ,  quando  est  necesse  est  me,  et  quod  Jit  ei  facium  est9 
fieri  et  factum  esse,  et  deum  velle  sic  me." 

*  I  have  heard  with  great  satisfaction  from  a  friend  who  as- 
•ertained  the  fact,  that  the  London  folio  edition  of  1616,  of  this 
too  much  neglected  author's  valuable  writings,  dc  causa  Dei  con 
tra  Pelagium  et  de  natura  causarum,  is  in  the  Boston  Atheneeum. 
The  young  men  who  frequent  that  excellent  institution  will  do 
well  to  study  this  volume,  and  they  will  regret  that  there  is  but 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.          81 

If  it  were  possible,  that  a  doubt  could  remain  on 
this  subject,  do  not  the  existence  of  our  learned  soci 
eties  prove  its  absurdity.  The  Historical  Society  of 
Massachusetts  has  been  formed  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  has  devoted  itself  constantly  to  collecting 
and  investigating  the  antiquities  of  the  country, 
on  which  it  has  published  many  volumes.  Next 
carne  the  Historical  Society  of  JVew-  York,  which 
has  been  engaged  for  some  years  in  the  same  pur 
suits.  Still  the  field  was  too  vast  for  the  labour 
ers  ;  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  was  estab 
lished  two  years  ago,  and  its  location  fixed  at 
Worcester,  because  the  road  to  New-York  pas 
ses  through  that  town.  Now  may  it  not  be  asked 
with  confidence, — if  the  profound  archaiologists 
who  compose  that  society,  would  have  formed 
their  association  after  so  many  similar  ones  already 
existed,  if  the  objects  of  its  research  were  not  in- 
exhaustible,  and  this  country  the  moit  ancient  in  the 
world  ? 


MISERIES  OF  HUMAN  LIFE. 


From  the  North  American  Review,  January,  1817. 


SIR, 

THERE  are  few  books  that  have  been  more  popu 
lar  than  the  celebrated  u  Miseries  of  Human  Life," 
by  Mr.  Beresford,  because  it  gave  an  opportunity  to 
the  wretched,  to  see  the  calamities  they  endured, 
minutely  described ;  a  task  which  had  never  before 
been  attempted,  and  which  afforded  them  much 
solace.  The  efforts  of  succeeding  philanthropists 
can  only  add  to  the  catalogue,  without  ever  making 
it  complete.  I  enclose  a  slight  tribute  in  this  way, 
which  will  place  two  more  on  the  list. 

Jl  misery  in  winter. — Being  present  at  a  great  ball 
— having  no  great  passion  for  dancing — the  lady  you 
would  wish  most  to  dance  with,  being  away — after 
careful  reconnoitering, — making  up  your  mind  to  wear 
out  the  tediousness  of  the  evening  and  to  lead  a 
particular  lady  to  supper, — anticipating  from  her 
vivacity  and  brilliancy,  one  pleasant  hour — in  the 
mean  time,  being  requested  to  take  a  hand,  in  order 
to  complete  a  party  at  whist — having  a  partner 
whose  temper  is  not  even  proof  against  the  vicis?}- 


MISERIES  OF  HUMAN  LIFE.  «s 

tudes  of  a  game  at  cards — losing  five  points  to  a  man 
whose  income  every  hour  is  more  than  yours  for  a 
year — and  who  plays  with  such  slow,  hateful,  inexo 
rable  prudence,  that  when  you  hasten  away  to  TB- 
trieve  the  fortune  of  the  evening — you  find  the  sup 
per  has  already  commenced,  the  places  all  full — and 
the  lady  you  like  most,  fairly  seated  by  the  man  you 
like  least,  in  the  whole  assembly  ! ! 

A  misery  in  summer. — Making  one  of  a  party  on  the 
water — the  finest  month  in  the  year  being  selected 
for  the  purpose — uncommon  preparations  having 
been  made,  the  excursion  is  a  matter  of  notoriety 
and  almost  of  envy,  among  all  your  acquaintance — 
on  the  appointed  day  you  set  off,  with  the  weather 
doubtful,  and  the  doubt  (not  the  weather)  is  cleared 
away,  by  its  proving  to  blow  the  hardest  gale  of  wind 
and  the  coldest  weather  that  had  been  experienced 
withm  the  memory  of  man,  at  that  season — after 
lying  at  anchor  all  day  and  catching  only  a  few 

sculpins, you  esteem  yourself  very 

fortunate,  by  the  great  exertions  of  an  excellent 
crew,  to  get  under  shelter  of  some  island  to  pass  the 
night ;  vour  male  friends  on  shore,  all  laughing  in 
their  sleeve,  and  your  female,  trembling  in  their's ; 
being  obliged  to  worry  out  the  night  on  a  chair 
without  sleeping,  and  without  a  book  to  read,  while 
a  half  dozen  of  your  companions  are  snoring  in  the 
small  cabin  around  you  in  such  tones,  that  they  would 
be  sent  to  the  rear  of  an  anrry  which  was  meditating 
a  surprize,  if  the  enemy  lay  within  three  miles ; 
next  morning  to  be  landed  before  sun-rise,  cold, 


*4  EPIGRAM. 

cramped,  sleepy,  full  of  sea  qualms,  and  when  has 
tening  home  incog,  at  an  hour  when  none  but  day- 
labourers  should  be  stirring,  to  meet  a  person,  who, 
from  his  weather-wise  sagacity,  had  perfidiously  pre 
tended  s^me  inevitable,  sudden  engagement  the  day 
before,  not  to  be  of  the  party,  out  of  whose  way  you 
meant  to  have  kept  for  a  week  at  least,  and  who 
inquires  with  an  insidious  grin,  "  What  kind  of  a 
time  have  you  had  ?" 


EPIGRAM. 

Lines  addressed  to ,  Esq.  Court- 
Square,  who  complained  of  the  disadvantage  of  weak 
eyes  in  the  profession  of  the  law. 

Weak  eyes  are  best,  be  ruled  by  me, 

To  view  the  joyous  omen  right, 
Since  able  lawyers,  all  agree, 

Must  often  have  the  fee-blest  sight. 


ON  HEARING  OF  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FRIEND  IN  A 
FOREIGN  COUNTRY. 


From  the  North  American  Review,  January,  1817, 


FOR  THEE  THE  TEAR  BE  DULY  SHED  ! 

FRESH  blew  the  breeze,  and  the  wide  swelling  sail, 
Impell'd  the  swift  vessel  that  bore  it  above, 

Which  return'd  to  her  home  on  the  wings  of  the  gale, 
As  if  eager  to  meet  the  embraces  of  love. 

All  hie  to  the  mart  where  her  packets  are  given, 
And  hastily  break  the  frail  seals  which  they  bear, 

Politicians  and  merchants  are  equally  driven, 
To  seek  for  events  with  the  visage  of  care. 

And  I  too— who  reck'd  not  of  Europe's  relations, 
And  still  less  of  Commerce,  its  losses  or  gain, 

But  who  hop'd  to  receive  from  a  far  distant  station, 
Some  news  of  a  friend,  long  expected  in  vain— 

Nor  was  I  deceiv'd,  when  impatient  at  last, 
That  writing  familiar  which  oft  could  beguile, 

The  tedious  hours  in  chill  solitude  pass'd, 
EKcited  at  once  its  habitual  smile. 
8 


>  LINES  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FRIEND. 

The  letter  was  open'd  with  pleasing  emotion, 
And  secret  delight  that  of  her  I  should  hear, 

Who  had  long  since  excited  my  warmest  devotion. 
Devotion  of  friendship,  as  pure  as  sincere. 

It  told  me  of  her — what  a  chill  to  the  heart, 
Was  suddenly  sent,  by  the  first  words  I  read  ; 

It  told  me  of  her — what  I  dread  to  impart, 
It  told  me,  alas  !  that  bright  spirit  had  fled  I 

How  crushing  the  blow  which  thus  comes  by  surprise, 
To  friends  afar  off,  who  hear  at  one  breath, 

That  all  is  completed  ! — at  once  to  their  eyes, 
A  blank  void  is  shewn — no  sound  echoes  but  death. 

When  sickness  invades,  or  when  grief  undermines, 

Affection  is  slowly  prepar'd  for  the  blow, 
Apprehension  is  calmed,  while  hope  alternate  shines, 

And  we  slowly  approach  the  infliction  of  wo. 

But  when  far  remote  from  the  friends  we  have  lov'd, 
Whom  we  left  mid  the 'pleasures  of  youth  and  of  health, 

The  sad  tidings  are  brought  us,  that  death  has  remov'd 
The  person  we  valu'd  beyond  the  world's  wealth : 

No  warning  is  given,  no  sickness  is  seen, 
No  funereal  rites  to  impress  on  the  heart, 

That  the  fate  which  was  hardly  believ'd  could  have  been, 
Has  sped  its  irrevocable,  withering  dart. 

We  imagine  at  times,  'tis  some  horrible  dream, 
And  struggle,  though  vainly,  the  mind  to  persuade, 

That  the  gloom  intervening  only  should  seem, 
Of  distance  the  veil,  not  of  death  the  black  shade. 

And  can  it  then  be  I  shall  ne'er  see  again, 
One  whom  I  ne'er  saw  except  with  delight ; 

That  I  never  shall  hear  that  enlivening  strain, 
Which  was  varied  and  soft  as  the  songster  of  night ' 


LINES  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FRIEND.  3? 

Shall  I  ne'er  again  bask  in  the  beam  of  that  eye, 
Which  was  brilliant  and  speaking,  soul-thrilling,  yet  soft  ; 

Ne'er  breathe  forth  again  the  heart-issuing  sigh, 
Which  thy  ravishing  smiles  have  caused  me  oft  ? 

Is  that  exquisite  person  suffused  with  grace, 
That  mind  where  vivacity  constantly  shone  ; 

That  sparkling  good  nature  which  couch'd  in  thy  face  ; 
That  feeling  and  taste  which  ne'er  left  thee  alone  : 

Are  these  favours  of  heaven,  these  triumphs  of  art, 

Which  envious  Fortune  so  vainly  assail'd, 
And  more  than  all  these,  is  the  warmth  of  thy  heart, 

All  quench'd  in  the  grave  to  be  deeply  bewail'd  ? 

If  that  land  where  I  left  thee  no  longer  contains, 
That  form  and  that  soul  which  I  vainly  regret, 

If  the  dark  ocean  which  now  between  us  remains, 
Is  eternity's  sea,  ne'er  retravers'd  as  yet  ? 

Then  farewell  to  thee  !  and  the  land  that  contain'd  thec1, 
Farewell  to  the  place  where  I  lov'd  thee  so  well, 

Farewell  to  the  castle — the  garden — the  city — 
Dear  angelick  spirit,'   a  solemn  farewell ! 


A  LETTER  FROM 


A   COUNTRY    GENTLEMAN, 


From  the  North  American  Review,  March,  1817. 


SIR,. 

I  DO  not  know  whether  my  case  be  a  very  common 
one,  or  if  its  communication  may  be  of  much  utility, 
yet,  as  a  statement  of  it  will  cost  me  very  little 
trouble,  and  will  afford  me  some  gratification,  I  shall 
place  it  at  your  disposal. — I  reside  in  a  distant  county, 
owning  a  few  hundred  acres  of  land  immediately 
about  me  ;  I  am  a  magistrate,,  and  on  the  days  when 
the  militia  are  trained,  I  wear  a  pair  of  epaulets :  in. 
short,  sir,  I  am  what  would  be  called,  in  England,  a 
country  gentleman ;  but  to  prevent  any  mistakes,  I 
will  merely  say,  that  I  am  your  fellow  citizen. 

My  wife  and  daughter  easily  persuaded  me  to  pass 
two  or  three  months  in  Boston,  to  see  something  of 
the  bustle  of  life,  and  to  give  the  latter  a  chance  of 
mixing  a  little  in  fashionable  society,  to  obtain  that 
degree  of  ease,  which  is  generally  wanting  in  those 
who  lead  a  life  of  seclusion.  People  who  live  in 


A  LETTER  FROM  A  COUNTRY  GENTLEMAN.      89 

towns,  acquire  by  friction  a  degree  of  polish,  which 
those  who  live  wholly  in  the  country  can  seldom 
attain ;  yet,  the  latter  are  composed  of  materials 
quite  as  susceptible  of  this  quality,  though  it  is  apt 
to  be  obscured  under  an  appearance  of  rusticity. 
I  was  glad,  too,  at  an  opportunity  of  meeting  with 
some  old  acquaintances,  and  partaking  of  that  hospi 
tality,  which  is  almost  proverbial.  That  1  have  not 
been  disappointed  in  my  expectations  of  pleasure, 
may,  perhaps,  be  inferred  from  the  trifling  com 
plaints  I  have  to  make  in  this  letter ;  but  you  must 
not  think  me  querulous,  and  dissatisfied,  if  1  find  a 
little  fault,  which,  after  all,  may  be  unreasonable  ; 
I  do  not  mean  to  dictate  a  reform,  or  hardly  to  sug 
gest  an  alteration. 

Soon  after  my  arrival,  we  were  invited  to  "  a  Ball," 
the  party  was  brilliant  and  the  supper  expensive  and 
elegant.  When  the  company  were  summoned  to 
the  table,  the  procession  towards  it  was  formed  with 
more  haste  than  ceremony ;  young  men  were  eager 
only  for  precedence,  and  young  girls  heedlessly 
crowded  before  matrons,  who  were  entitled  to  their 
homage.  The  places  at  supper  were  taken  promis 
cuously,  and,  in  many  cases,  the  first  should  have 
been  last  and  the  last  first.  Now,  sir,  I  do  not  wish 
to  introduce  that  minute  attention  to  rank  and  eti 
quette,  with  all  the  heart  burnings,  mortified  preten 
sions,  and  ennui,  which  always  accompany  them, 
where  they  are  servilely  followed ;  I  would  as  soon 
bring  back  the  high-heeled  shoes,  stiff  brocades  and 
high  toupees  and  cushions,  in  which  they  were  for 
merly  attired.  Yet,  it  seems  to  me,  that  a  little 
8* 


90  A  LETTER  FROM 

order,  a  little  deference  to  age  and  situation,  where 
affectionate  respect  is  repaid  by  courtesy  and  con 
descension,  would  add  to  the  charm  and  good  effect^ 
which  result  from  a  moderate  share  of  social  gayety, 
in  large  refined  assemblies. 

My  next  topic  is  still  more  trifling.  We  received 
an  invitation  "  to  take  tea"  on  a  certain  evening  ; 
my  daughter's  friends  had  told  her,  they  had  no  doubt 
it  was  to  be  a  dance,  and  she  who  is  as  fond  of 
getting  possession  of  the  floor  as  a  member  of  Congress, 
would  not  have  compounded  for  six  cotillons,  and 
was  dressed  accordingly.  It  turned  out  to  be  one  of 
those  parties  where  the  company,  formed  into  groups, 
were  insulated  by  constant  circulation  of  ice  creams, 
jellies,  sweetmeats,  fruit,  wine,  &c.  &c.  &c.  which 
meandered  about  them  all  the  evening.  The  next 
invitation  was,  "  to  take  tea  and  pass  the  evening :" 
my  wife  and  daughter  said  this  was  only  a  modifica 
tion  of  the  same  thing,  and  the  latter  went  in  a  cos 
tume  not  suited  for  dancing.  Behold  this  was  as 
much  a  ball,  as  if  it  had  been  so  called  at  once  ;  and 
my  poor  little  girl  was  mortified  at  not  being  pre 
pared  for  it.  It  will  no  doubt  appear  ridiculous  to 
you,  sir,  that  I  should  have  felt  such  trifles  as  these ; 
but  allow  me  to  say,  without  offence,  that  unless  you 
are  the  father  of  a  lovely  interesting  daughter,  and 
an  only  one,  you  are  no  judge  of  the  subject. — Why 
not  call  things  by  their  right  names  ?  un  chat  un  chat  ; 
— but  even  fashion  must  have  its  technical  mysteries. 

In  former  times  these  balls  were  under  the  direc 
tion  of  very  efficient  masters  of  ceremonies ;  but  as 
there  is  no  longer  any  ceremony,  I  suppose  it  has 


A  COUNTRY  GENTLEMAN.  91 

been  found  inexpedient  to  keep  up  a  sinecure.    These 
masters  of  ceremonies,  however,  answered  a  very 
good  purpose.     The  office,  though  of  short  duration, 
was  an  arduous  one,  and  often  required  more  firm 
ness,  skill,  and  watchfulness,  than  many  civil  ones  of 
high  import.     A  crowd  or  mob  of  superior  people  is 
always  more  unreasonable  and  difficult  to  manage, 
than  a  mob  in  the  streets.     A  master  of  ceremonies 
in  those  days,  had  to  controul  the  forwardness  of 
youth,  and  counteract  nature,  caprice  and  pride,  by 
equalising  the  attentions  of  the  men  and  the  enjoy 
ments  of  the  ladies,  while  in  the  dancing  room,  and 
marshalling  them  in  something  like   order,  in  the 
supper  room.     The  consequence  was,  that  if  some 
ladies  danced  more  than  others,  all  who  wished  to 
dance  had  an  opportunity.     I  do  not  make  these 
remarks  to  avenge  my  daughter's  cause  :  no,  sir, 
she  is  one  who  gains  by  the  license,  she  dances  too 
well  ever  to  be  allowed  to  sit  still,  except  she  prefers 
it.     But   I  have  seen  some   ladies  the  victims   of 
neglect  in  this  way,  who  would  not  have  been  suf 
fered  to  be  so  formerly.     In   these   parties   there 
must  be  constant  exertion,  on  the  part  of  the  master 
of  the   ceremonies,  to  prevent  usurpation,   and  to 
force,  if  necessary,  those  sacrifices  from  individuals, 
which    are   demanded   for   the   general   enjoyment. 
Both  sexes  require  this  controul.     I  recollect  one  of 
the    most   accomplished    gentlemen   in    this    office, 
which  any  country  could  ever  boast  of,  asking  some 
ladies  who  were  opposing  themselves  to  the  regula 
tions  of  the  evening,  at  a  splendid  ball,  "  if  they 
thought  they  came  there  for  their  own  amusement  ?" 


9J  A  LETTER  FROM 

The  days  are  passed,  sir,  when  such  a  question  as 
this  could  be  asked,  or  even  comprehended,  but  it  is 
full  of  meaning  ;  and  alas  !  many  other  things  have 
passed  away  also. — Another  reason  for  having  effi 
cient  masters  of  ceremonies  would  be,  humanity  to 
some  of  the  gentlemen.  A  moderate  plodding  man, 
whose  movements  seem  to  have  been  learnt,  like 
those  of  a  bear,  by  having  been  taught  on  a  heated 
floor ;  such  a  dancer  might  consult  the  director  of 
the  evening  about  a  partner  suited  to  him ;  for  want 
of  this,  no  doubt,  I  have  seen  some  poor  fellows 
who  followed  their  skipping,  flying  partners  in  a 
cotillon,  in  a  manner  that  recalled  to  mind  that  line 
of  Johnson,  speaking  of  Shakspeare,  where  he  says, 

And  panting  Time  toil'd  after  him  in  vain. 

1  have  seen  such  disproportionate  couples  in  this 
way,  as  could  only  be  compared  to  the  German  fable 
of  the  luckless  ox,  who  had  nearly  lost  his  life  in 
being  yoked  with  Pegasus. 

The  next  complaint  is  on  my  own  account.  I  was 
invited  to  "  a  symposiack  ;"  my  idea  of  the  nature  of 
this  party  was  very  indistinct,  my  wife  and  daughter 
were  equally  at  a  loss.  On  the  appointed  evening 
my  wife,  whose  imagination  is  singularly  active,  and 
will  sometimes  in  consequence  have  her  timidity 
very  ludicrously  excited,  proposed  to  me,  that  I 
should  accompany  them  to  the  theatre  ;  I  saw  her 
drift,  and  that  she  did  not  feel  perfectly  easy  on  the 
score  of  this  party.  I  smiled,  and  told  her,  I  was 
resolved  to  find  out  what  it  was.  On  entering  the 


A  eOUNTRY  GENTLEMAN.  93 

room,  I  found  several  individuals,  distinguished  for 
their  pursuit  of  science  and  literature.  The  mate 
rials  were  good,  but  it  went  off  heavily,  and  I  found 
myself  obliged  to  be  on  my  guard  against  yawning. 
At  supper  I  engaged  in  conversation  with  a  gentle 
man  along  side  of  me.  Thirty  years  ago,  I  went,  in 
regular  course,  through  the  mathematics,  metaphy 
sics  and  the  Classics,  and  obtained  the  usual  literary 
degrees.  I  have,  however,  no  pretensions  to  learn 
ing,  and  have,  for  many  years,  attended  more  to  its 
results,  than  its  forms.  Having  made  some  remark 
to  my  neighbour,  who,  though  a  metaphysician,  was 
a  very  pleasant  man  ;  he  began  in  the  Socratic  form, 
and  having  had  the  simplicity  to  answer  his  questions, 
I  found,  before  I  was  aware  of  it,  that  he  had  treach 
erously  caught  me  in  a  net,  where  I  was  too  much 
enthralled  to  extricate  myself.  In  this  situation,  a 
strange  pedant,  opposite,  pelted  me  with  a  shower 
of  hard  words,  every  one  of  which  left  a  contusion. 
I  made  my  escape  as  soon  as  I  could,  and  on  getting 
home,  the  moment  I  entered  the  room,  my  daughter 
sprang  to  meet  me,  "  well,  dear  Father,  what  kind 
of  a  party  was  it  ?"  My  wife  bid  her  not  be  so  im 
patient,  and,  in  the  same  breath,  said,  "  come,  what 
was  this  party  ?" — I  told  my  child  to  get  the  diction 
ary.  u  The  Dictionary  !  well  we  never  thought  of 
that,  but  I  don't  believe  there  is  any  such  word  in 
the  English  Dictionary." — She  read  me  the  explana 
tion,  "  Symporiack)  relating  to  merry  making .'" — I 
told  them  the  story,  and  resolved  never  to  go  te 
another. 


SKETCH  OF 


AN  INCURSION  INTO   THE  OLD  COLONY.* 


A  PARTY  of  four  gentlemen,  labouring  under  a 
temporary  satiety  of  State-street,  the  Athenaeum, 
wedding  visits  and  the  mill-dam,  projected  an  incur 
sion  to  the  old  colony  for  a  change  of  scene.  To 
speak  strictly,  two  of  them  were  individuals  ; 
the  other  two  are  under  engagements,  which  by  all 
laws,  human  and  divine,  constitute  them  what  a  meta 
physician  would  term,  mixed  essences.  This  slight 
difference  of  condition  modified  their  judgment  of 
the  objects  which  fell  under  their  observation,  in 
such  a  moderate  degree  as  to  produce  a  more  just 
appreciation  of  them.  The  following  is  a  hasty 
sketch  of  the  general  result  of  their  observations, 
put  down  to  relieve  the  ennui  of  those  who  are  suf 
fering  at  home,  without  energy  to  make  a  similar  ef 
fort. 

*  This  tour  was  first  published  in  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 
It  was  begun  as  a  kind  of  jest  while  the  party  were  chatting  in 
the  padour  of  the  inn  at  Sandwich,  and  without  any  view  to 
such  a  serious  operation  as  printing.  It  was  voted  however,  to 
have  it  finished  and  published.  The  notes  are  now  added  to  it. 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  95 

Oct.  12. — Left  Boston  for  Plymouth — a  fresh  N. 
W.  wind  and  transparent  atmosphere.  At  Quincy 
had  the  honour  of  bowing  to  the  venerable  Presi 
dent  Adams,  who  was  walking  half  a  mile  from  home, 
with  a  firm  step,  and  without  any  attendant.  It  may 
be  safely  affirmed,  that  in  no  country  of  the  world, 
could  a  traveller  at  this  moment  meet  with  a  man  of 
the  same  eminence  and  the  same  age — and  if  such 
an  individual  should  be  found,  the  same  simplicity 
would  in  vain  be  sought  for.  No  other  event  hap 
pened  on  the  road  to  Plymouth  worth  noticing,  ex 
cept  one  of  the  gentlemen  driving  off  from  the  half 
way  house,  supposing  his  companion  to  have  walked 
on,  and  giving  him  a  walk  of  six  miles,  a  match 
against  time,  before  he  could  overtake  him.  This 
was  an  error  of  judgment,  which  in  the  individual 
who  made  it,  was  an  exception  to  a  general  rule. 

At  Plymouth,  to  our  great  dismay,  we  found  the 
^upreme  Court  in  session ;  and  of  course,  the  num 
bers  which  on  these  occasions  invade  a  small  coun 
ty  town,  leave  the  chance  of  a  comfortable  lodging 
very  slight.  However,  we  obtained  the  great  de 
sideratum  of  three  single  bedded  rooms,  and  decided 
by  lot  who  should  be  the  victim  of  a  double  one. 
In  the  evening,  found  the  usual  assortment  of  clients 
and  lawyers,  some  with  too  much  and  some  with  too 
little  business.  A  cause  had  just  been  decided  about 
the  warranty  of  a  horse,  which  had  lasted  a  day  and  a 
half,  and  astonished  the  laity  with  a  display  of  profes 
sional  ingenuity.  One  of  these  spectators  seemed 
anxious  to  give  us  the  history  of  the  case,  and  made 
several  leading  observations  with  that  design,  but  our 


9«  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

sullen  want  of  curiosity  thwarted  him.  The  Con 
vention  was  the  principal  topic  of  conversation — 
and,  to  our  surprise,  some  interest  about  it  was  ex 
pressed.  Though  a  little  incredulous  at  first,  we 
were  convincad  that  at  least  four  or  five  persons  in 
this  county  had  read  all  the  numbers  of  B,  G.,  B.  G., 
jr.  and  B.  G.ter. 

13tfi.— Walked  after  breakfast  to  survey  the  town, 
which  has  fewer  marks  of  antiquity  than  could  be 
expected ;  none  of  the  buildings  go  back  to  even 
the  third  generation  of  the  colony.  Plymouth  is  a 
respectable  village  built  on  the  side  of  a  hill  that 
rises  rather  steeply  from  the  harbour,  the  summit  of 
which  may  be  about  150  feet  above  it,  and  is  occu 
pied  as  a  burial  place,  where  the  forefathers  and 
their  descendants  repose  together.  It  contains  sev 
eral  handsome  houses,  and  the  people  derive  their 
support  from  the  fisheries,  foreign  commerce  and 
manufactures.  A  substantial  stone  gaol  has  just  been 
completed,  which  the  wants  of  the  county  fortunate 
ly  do  not  require  to  be  of  large  dimensions,  and  a 
new  Court  House  of  brick  and  stone  is  now  erect 
ing,  which  it  is  said  will  be  the  best  in  the  state. 
Their  manufactories  are  on  a  small  stream  that  flows 
through  the  town,  and  consist  of  a  very  extensive 
one  for  nails,  another  for  shovels  and  spades,  one  for 
anchors,  and  one  for  cotton.  Their  fishery  this  year 
has  done  well ;  the  vessels  to  the  streights  of  Bell- 
isle,  made  great  fares — those  to  the  banks  less. — 
The  mackerel  fishery  has  been  about  an  average 
one — a  vessel  caught  one  hundred  barrels  in  eight 
days.  The  opening  in  the  beach  has  been  stopped, 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  97 

and  the  sand  is  beginning  to  collect  over  it.  Their 
foreign  commerce  is  small ;  one  vessel  has  just  arriv 
ed  with  a  cargo  of  Salt  from  St.  Ubes,  and  another 
had  just  discharged  a  cargo  of  Iron  from  Russia — 
half  a  dozen  coasting  and  fishing  vessels  comprised 
the  remainder  of  the  navigation  in  port.  The  sea- 
view  from  the  burial  ground  is  extensive  ;  the  prin 
cipal  objects  are  Monumet  point  and  highlands  on 
the  right — the  long  sandy  beach  that  forms  the  har 
bour,  which  is  far  from  being  of  the  first  class,  in 
front — Duxbury  and  Captain's  Hill  on  the  left,  with 
the  termination  of  Duxbury  beach  called  the  Gur 
net,  and  its  two  light  houses. 

We  walked  down  to  the  rock,  which  stands  imbed 
ded  in  a  wharf  near  the  edge  of  the  high  water 
line.  A  part  of  it,  weighing  three  or  four  tons,  was 
broken  off  and  carried  to  the  Market  House  in  the 
centre  of  the  town — the  surface  of  the  remaining  part 
is  flat  and  about  six  feet  in  diameter.  The  piece 
that  was  carried  to  the  market  house  has  been  white 
washed,  a  mark  of  respect  that  the  mineralogist 
would  feel  very  sensibly.  The  forefathers'  rock,  as 
it  is  called,  is  now  visited  by  hundreds  every  year, 
as  it  will  be  by  thousands  in  all  succeeding  time.  On 
this  rock  the  passengers  of  the  May  Flower  landed 
on  the  22d  of  December,  1620.  What  debarkation 
in  the  world  ever  was  attended  with  such  momen 
tous  and  beneficent  consequences,  as  followed  that 
of  the  few  English  gentlemen  and  yeomen,  who  then 
landed  with  their  families  on  this  barren,  inclement 
spot  !  They  persevered  with  heroic  constancy  :  they 
apace,  and  they  laid  the  foundation  for  the  slow 
9 


98  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

and  certain  growth  of  "  the  manners,  principles,  and 
feelings"  which  led  to  the  American  revolution, 
founded  our  republic  on  the  hroadest  and  noblest 
foundations  of  justice,  and  perfected  the  system  of 
representation.  Representation  is  now  the  cry  and 
claim  of  every  nation ;  and  they  will  have  it,  though 
after  many  a  scene  of  blood  and  crime.  A  comme 
moration  of  this  landing  is  annually  celebrated  by  a 
discourse,  a  dinner  and  ball. — Next  December,  is  a 
jubilee,  the  completion  of  a  second  century,  and 
great  expectations  are  entertained  of  the  orator 
on  this  occasion,  which  we  may  be  certain  will  not 
be  disappointed.* 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Register's  office,  where 
we  saw  the  early  records  of  the  Plymouth  Colony, 
amounting  to  about  twenty  volumes.  They  were 

*  Without  pretending  to  define  the  exact  degree  of  skill  requir 
ed  to  make  this  prediction,  it  need  only  be  said  that  it  was  com 
pletely  fulfilled.  A  very  large  audience  were  highly  gratified  by 
the  discourse  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  the  most  competent  judges 
agreed,  that  so  powerful  an  effect  had  rarely  been  produced  by 
any  oration  in  this  country.  The  little  town  of  Plymouth  was 
never  so  animated  before,  being  crowded  with  visitors  from  the 
capital,  and  from  all  the  neighbouring  counties.  A  public  Din 
ner  and  Ball  were  given  in  very  handsome  style,  at  which  about 
600  persons  were  present.  The  guests  on  the  occasion  of  this 
Jubilee  all  wrote  their  names  on  a  parchment  deposited  ia 
the  archicves  of  the  Pilgrim  Society.  It  would  be  an  extra 
ordinary  chance  indeed,  if  one  of  these  signers  should  survive 
to  the  next  centennial  festival.  If  some  of  the  forefathers  could 
have  peeped  in  upon  this  crowded  assembly,  where  so  much  fash 
ion  and  elegance  were  collected,  they  would  have  wondered  and 
perhaps  frowned,  at  the  progress  of  luxury  among  their  pos 
terity. 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  99 

last  year  put  in  fine   order   at   the   expense  of  the 
state,  under  the  care  of  a  committee  of  gentlemen, 
and  are  now  rescued  from  their  perishing  condition. 
For  this  service  the  public  are  much  indebted  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Freeman.     These  records  are   civil,  judi 
cial,  religious,  economical,  &c.  journals  of  marriages, 
deaths,  &c.      They  offer  many  curious,  minute  and 
most  authentic  details.     The  founders  of  our  nation 
were  neither  suckled  by  a  wolf,  nor  leaders  of  ban 
ditti  :  but  they  were  nurtured  under  the  sternest  ad 
versity,  and  always  governed  by  the  severest  princi 
ples  of  morality.      There  is  nothing  fabulous  about 
them.     Their  whole  conduct  was  open,  known,  re 
corded.     With  what  reverence  will  after  ages  trace 
back  the  long  stream  of  empire  to  these  its  primitive 
sources  !  to  which  they  may  recur  by  retracing  the 
rivulet  of  history  to   its   fountain  heads.     Some  of 
these  records  which  related  to  civil  and  judicial  acts 
were  copied,  and  the  copies  placed  in  the  Secretary 
of  State's  office.     The  originals  are  all  in  the  charge 
of  the  Register  of  Deeds  for  the  County.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  this  office  has  been  in  the  family   of 
the    present  incumbent    116  years.     His  father  and 
grandfather  held  it  before  him,  and  the  place  is  be 
stowed  by  popular  election. 

After  paying  our  homage  to  the  antiquities  of  the. 
place,  we  set  out  for  Sandwich,  a  distance  of  sixteen 
miles,  and  to  be  candid,  not  a  very  interesting  ride. 
The  road  lies  chiefly  though  woods,  and  is  in  many 
places  a  deep  sand.  The  Sacrifice  rocks,  covered  by 
dry  sticks  by  the  Indians,  who  never  pass  them  with 
out  an  offering  of  this  kind,  the  remnant  of  some 


100  TOUR  TO  SAKDWICH. 

unknown  superstition,  and  one  or  two  ponds,  are  the 
only  objects  to  attract  attention — unless  the  traveller 
will  follow  our  example  and  climb  the  high  lands  of 
Monurnet,  at  the  first  stopping  place,  about  seven 
miles  from  Plymouth — from  thence  he  will  have  a 
wide  reach  over  the  Plymouth  and  Sandwich  forests, 
and  a  most  commanding  one  of  Barnstable  bay,  to 
the  extremity  of  Race  point,  and  will  perceive  in 
what  a  remarkable  way  Cape  Cod  partly  encircle* 
it.  There  is  another  very  picturesque  view  of  the 
sea  near  Ellis's,  five  miles  from  Sandwich.  The 
whole  scenery  at  this  spot  is  of  a  romantic  cast.  It 
is  proposed  to  make  a  turnpike  from  Plymouth  to 
Sandwich — it  can  be  done  at  a  small  expense.  The 
distance  will  be  shortened  four  miles,  the  road  will 
be  smooth  and  hard,  instead  of  deep  sand,  and  it 
will  be  more  agreeable  by  passing  near  several  fine 
ponds. 

We  reached  Sandwich  in  the  afternoon,  and  gave 
a  brief  order  for  dinner — u  every  thing  there  was  in 
the  house" — having  a  most  esurient  longing,  worthy 
of  a  municipality,  for  the  good  things  of  this  region  of 
game.  The  next  order  was  to  send  for  John  Trout,  to 
engage  him  during  our  stay.  This  second  name,  like 
that  of  Scipio  Jlfricanus,  is  the  reward  of  the  most 
distinguished  services.  His  piscatory  exploits  and 
minute  knowledge  of  all  the  haunts,  habits  and  con 
nexions  of  some  of  our  most  valuable  fishes,  entitle 
him  to  the  honour  of  a  distinguished  place  among 
the  Icthyologists  in  the  New-York  Academy,  and  we 
hope  this  hint  will  fall  under  their  notice.  John  is  in 
fact  a  man  of  so  much  renown,  that  those  who  have 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  101 

never  heard  of  him  would  do  well  to  conceal  their 
misfortune,  for  to  any  luckless  inquirer  he  will  or 
might  say, 

Not  to  know  me  argues  yourself  unknown  ; 
The  meanest  of  your  tribe. 

His  skill  and  alacrity  were  shewn  in  some  very 
fine  trout,  that  graced  our  breakfast  table  the  next 
morning. 

1  4th.  —  This  was  one  of  those  exquisite  days,  of 
vernal  softness  and  autumnal  ripeness  harmoniously 
blended,  when  the  scattered  clouds  that  were  floating 
under  the  mildest  cerulean  sky,  we  might  almost 
fancy  to  be  the  vehicles  that  were  bearing  about  the 
spirits  of  the  blest,  high  above  this  nether  world  of 
strife,  conventions  and  cattle  shows  —  one  of  those 
days,  in  short,  in  which  every  feeling  mind  would 
bless  the  memory  of  our  forefathers,  for  having 
landed  here.  —  It  were  to  be  wished  we  had  more  of 
them.  We  proceeded  together,  John  as  an  out 
rider,  to  u  Deacon  Nye^s  brook,"  about  five  miles 
from  Sandwich  village  on  the  road  to  Barnstable. 
Here  under  the  auspices  of  John,  auspice  Teucro, 
one  of  .the  party  commenced  snipe  shooting  and  the 
other  trout  catching.  The  other  two  continued  on, 
one  of  them  to  make  a  call  at  Great  Marshes,  and 
the  other  to  visit  Barnstable,  where  he  had  never 
been  before,  and  which  he  found  very  little  chang 
ed.*  Great  Marshes  is  a  fertile  spot  where  the  Otis 


*  There  are  all  kinds  of  readers.     One  of  the  rc/Iccl  ing 
objected  to  this  passage  as  being  a  bull.     Another  regretted  the 
mistake  of  calling  Mr.  Watson  an  "  old  tory  !" 
9* 


102  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

family  have  continued  for  five  generations,  and 
where  the  celebrated  patriot  James  Otis  was  born. 
From  one  of  the  family,  we  were  obligingly  fur 
nished  with  a  few  documents  for  the  Historical  Soci 
ety.  One  of  these  we  copy  as  very  characteristic  of 
the  feelings  that  were  excited  on  a  most  memorable 
occasion  ;  one  of  the  few  battles  where  human  blood 
has  not  been  shed  in  vain,  and  where  the  blood  of 
patriots  became  the  seed  of  liberty.  It  is  dictated 
in  haste,  and  under  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and 
was  written  by  the  late  W.  Watson  of  Plymouth 
to  Col.  Freeman  of  Sandwich,  and  endorsed  on  the 
outside,  "  please  to  forward  this  to  Col.  Otis  of 
Barnstable,  after  Col.  Freeman  has  read  it." 

PLYMOUTH,  APRIL  24,   1775. 

DEAR  COL.  FREEMAN. — I  congratulate  you  and  our 
good  Friends  at  Sandwich,  on  the  grandest  event 
that  ever  took  place  in  America,  I  mean  the  late  bat 
tle  at  Concord  et  cceleris.  That  7  hundred  poor,  des 
pised  yankeys  (I  glory  in  the  name)  should  have 
put  to  flight  and  totally  defeated  17  hundred  of  Lord 
North's  best  picked  Troops,  consisting  of  Grenadiers 
and  Earl  Percy's  Regiment  of  Welch  Fusileers,  are 
circumstances  deeply  mortifying  to  those  who  thought 
themselves  invincible.  One  of  our  Kingston  Friends 
was  at  Boston  when  the  Vanquished  Troops  returned, 
and  was  at  the  Ferry  when  they  were  brought  over, 
who  says  that  he  cannot  express  the  mortification, 
the  disappointment  and  the  chagrin  that  appeared  in 
their  countenances — cart  loads  of  wounded  hurried 
to  the  hospital  (many  of  whom  are  since  dead,)  their 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  103 

mouths  belching  out  curses  and  execrations,  the  par 
ticulars  are  too  many  to  enumerate.  We  have  dis 
armed  our  torys  and  they  are  in  a  most  melancholy 
situation,  and  are  begging  and  sueing  for  reconcilia- 
ation  on  any  terms.  We  are  in  high  spirits  and  dont 
think  it  is  in  the  power  of  all  Europe  to  subjugate  us, 
for  it  is  evident  that  the  God  of  Hosts  has  declared  in 
our  favour,  and  to  this  God  let  us  ascribe  all  the  glo 
ry  and  ail  the  praise.  rl  he  poor  wicked  Mandamus 
gentry  are  fled  to  the  ships,  and  to  what  can  they  fly 
to  next. — !  am  sure  they  have  not  a  good  conscience 
to  fly  to ;  I  wish  them  future  happiness,  but  1  cannot 
in  conscience  wish  them  much  good  in  this  life.  I 
sincerely  wish  and  most  heartily  pray  that  a  proper 
sense  of  this  very  remarkable  interposition  of  Pro 
vidence  in  our  favour  may  have  a  proper  effect  on 
the  minds  of  a  much  injured  and  greatly  insulted 
people.  Ned  Winslow  was  in  the  action  and  had  his 
horse  shot  under  him.  George  Leonard  we  hear  is 
killed,  and  Billy  Coffin's  son  who  lived  with  the  in 
famous  P.  Sewall  died  of  his  wound  soon  after  action 
under  a  stone  wall.  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  God. 
I  am,  Sir,  with  much  esteem  and  most  sincere  af 
fection,  your  humble  Servant,  in  great  haste. 

W.  WATSON  * 

*  The  hearsays  given  at  the  close  of  this  letter  about  certain 
individuals,  were  mistakes,  natural  enough  amidst  the  multiplied 
and  agitating  rumours  of  the  moment.  But  the  letter  shews  in  a 
very  lively  manner,  with  what  intense  and  anxious  interest  that 
great  crisis  was  regarded,  and  of  what  vast  moment  it  was  in 
the  skirmish  at  Lexington,  that  troops  who  were  held  to  be  not 
only  invincible  but  almost  invulnerable,  should  be  harrassed 


104  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

In  the  troublous  times  which  preceded  the  present 
millennium,  the  writer  of  the  above  letter  was  turned 
out  of  office,  by  President  Jefferson,  for  being  an 
"  old  tory !" 

We  dined  at  four  on  the  proceeds  of  the  day's 
sport,  aided  with  a  few  supplementary  dishes,  of 
which  it  is  only  necessary  to  particularize  tortaug, 
and  Sandwich  mutton. — This  latter  is  worthy  of  all 
praise  ;  it  resembles  exactly  the  mutton  of  "  the 
Downs  of  Britain,"  considered  the  finest  on  the  island 
4i  of  that  ilk."  Suffice  it  to  say  that  a  gastrologer 
would  devour  it,  a  gastronomer  enjoy  it,  and  a 
gastrophilist  appreciate  it.  John  very  candidly  said 
that  trout  were  now  out  of  season ;  the  best  months 
for  them  are  May  and  June.  He  agreed  that  the 
trout  of  Coatuit  were  among  the  best,  but  then  "  the 
natives,"  (he  rhymed  them  with  knives)  "  were 
great  poachers  in  that  stream,"  (their  own  domain  !) 
Before  we  dismiss  the  meritorious  John,  a  piece  of 
his  reasoning  may  be  recorded,  that  partakes  a  little 
of  the  raciness  of  his  Hibernian  origin.  When  ask 
ing  him  what  was  due  for  his  services,  merely  to 
ascertain  the  fact,  with  no  paltry,  trading  notions  of 
cavilling  about  the  price — this  would  not  have  done 
with  one  of  his  lofty  pursuits,  the  occupation  of  the 
privileged  ones  of  the  earth — he  told  us,  "  his  wages 
were  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  a  day ;  that  was  the 

and  foiled  in  the  first  action  of  the  long  conflict  that  was  to 
ensue.  The  philosophic  historian  in  after  tiroes  would  be  glad 
to  find  a  document  so  expressive  of  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens 
at  the  crisis  of  commencing  a  hazardous  contest,  whose  conse 
quences  were,  are,  and  will  be,  so  momentous. 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  l(tf 

price  when  grain  was  two  dollars  a  bushel,  and  it 
was  the  same  now  it  was  half  a  dollar,  he  made  no 
difference." 

15th  Sunday. — We    went  over  to  the  Massapee 
Indian  meeting-house,  which  is  situated  in  the  midst 
of  the  forest  near  Coatuit  brook.     The  Rev.  Mr. 
Fish  has  the  present  charge  of  this  mission,  and  the 
living  is  the  best  in  the  county.     The  congregation 
is  motley  in  regard  to  complexion.     The  pulpit  and 
four  pews  occupy  one  side  of  the  house,  a  gallery  is 
opposite   to  them,   and  the   rest  ef  the  building  is 
divided  into  body  seats,  in  which  according  to  the 
old  fashion,  the  men  sit  on  one  side  the  women  on 
the  other.      Unaware   of  this,   and   entering  after 
prayer  had  begun,  we  took  the  female  side,  but  the 
deacon  came  down  and  very  courteously  apprised  us 
of  our   mistake,  which   we   immediately  rectified. 
Five  or  six  of  the  upper  seats  on  each  side  are 
appropriated   to   the   tribe,   the   remainder  to  the 
people  called  whites,  whatever  may  be  the  shade  of 
their  skin.     The  day  was  lowering,  and  at  times 
rainy — the  whole   congregation   therefore  did   not 
exceed  sixty.     Of  these,  eighteen  were  people  of 
colour,  in  one  third  of  which,  African,  and  in  the  re 
mainder  Indian  blood  prevailed.     One  of  the  deacons 
is  black.     In  the  two  pews  to  the  right  of  the  pulpit 
there  was  a  man  and  woman  of  Indian  physiognomy, 
who  would  have  excited  attention  any  where.     The 
sermon  was  sensible,  mixing  up  the  necessity  of  faith 
and  works  in  discreet  proportions.     The  tribe  now 
consists  of  a  hundred  families  j  the  men  are  mostly 
employed  as  sailors  from  Nantucket  and  New  Bed- 


JOB  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

ford  in  the  whale  fishery.     Each  family  cultivates  a 
small   spot,   their  right   to   which   is   prescriptive. 
The  whole  of  their  lands  are  held  in  common. — 
Fish  of  various  kinds,  and  particularly  shell-fish,  form 
their  principal  food.     Their  meeting-house  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  burying-ground,  over  a  considerable 
part  of  which  the  trees  have  grown  to  a  full  size. 
We  observed  only  two  grave-stones  with  inscriptions, 
one  to  "  Flora,  a  faithful  servant  of  Mr  Hawley," 
the  late  missionary,  and  the  other  to  Deacon  Pop- 
munnet  who  died  in  1771. — This  celebrated  family 
of  the  Popmunnets  or  Popmonnets  is  now  we  believe 
extinct. — The  people  of  this  tribe  dress  like  the 
whites  and  use  their  language.     They  reside  many 
of  them  about  Massapee    pond — one  of  the  most 
extensive  and  perhaps  the  most  beautiful,  of  the 
lakes  in  this  state. 

16^. — A  violent  easterly  gale  accompanied  with 
excessive  rain.  Sandwich  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
villages  in  Massachusetts. — In  the  centre  of  it  there 
is  a  mill-pond,  which  forms  a  fine  sheet  of  water  and 
turns  two  rustic  mills.  Two  meeting-houses,  an 
academy  and  several  dwelling  houses  are  placed  on 
its  borders.  The  inns  in  Sandwich  are  excellent 
and  the  charges  moderate.  To  persons  fond  of 
fishing,  shooting,  or  riding,  it  offers  greater  resources 
than  any  other  spot  in  this  country.  Snipes,  plovers, 
quails  and  partridges  are  abundant;  and  the  deer 
are  multiplying  since  the  law  that  was  passed  a  few 
years  ago  for  their  protection.  Coatuit,  Wanquoit, 
Monumet  and  fifty  other  brooks  are  full  of  the  finest 
trout,  and  the  ponds,  which  are  very  numerous, 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  ij»7 

abound  in  perch,  &c.  Both  bays  are  full  of  sea  fish, 
and  in  Buzzard's  bay,  oysters  and  other  kinds  of 
shell-fish  are  very  plenty.  The  roads  through  the 
woods  towards  the  Vineyard  Sound  are  excellent, 
and  offer  the  means  of  many  pleasant  excursions. 
Towards  evening  we  rode  down  to  the  beach,  at  the 
point  where  the  different  surveys  have  marked  the 
entrance  of  the  canal,  which  will  be  about  seven 
miles  in  length  through  a  level  district.  The  tides 
from  the  two  bays  flow  to  within  four  miles  of  each 
other. — Barnstable  bay  is  one  of  the  cleanest  and 
most  regular  bays  in  the  world,  entirely  free  from 
rocks  or  shoals.  We  looked  on  the  beach  for  shells, 
but  found  only  three  or  four  common  kinds.  Its 
principal  produce  is  paving-stones  for  the  streets  of 
Boston — a  great  many  cargoes  of  wood  are  also 
annually  shipped  from  Sandwich. 

The  aspect  of  the  country  below  Plymouth  differs 
from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  state. — There  is  a  dis 
trict  of  nearly  twenty  miles  square  that  is  chiefly 
covered  with  wood,  for  the  growth  of  which  it  is 
more  valuable  than  for  any  other  purpose.  Thousands 
of  cords  are  annually  exported  to  various  towns  in 
Massachusetts,  Rhode-Island,  &c.  Some  parts  of 
Sandwich  resemble  districts  in  Surry  and  Sussex  in 
England.  As  you  proceed  down  the  Cape,  the  sand 
becomes  more  predominant.  But  here  and  there 
spots  of  the  finest  land  can  be  found.  The  people 
are  hardy  and  enterprising  ;  farmers,  fishermen, 
ship-builders  and  seamen,  and  sometimes  the  same 
individual  follows  these  employments  successively. 
Their  population  is  stationary — but  they  send  off 


108  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

numerous  recruits  to  other  districts.  The  State  of 
Maine  owes  most  of  its  inhabitants  originally  to  the 
Cape.  You  may  see  a  good  deal  of  poor  land,  but 
rery  few  poor  men.  The  whole  appearance  of  the 
population  is  solid,  substantial  and  comfortable. 

17/ft. — A  cloudy  morning — We  could  say  much  of 
the  kindness  and  good  will  of  our  host,  Capt.  Swift 
and  his  wife,  but  it  is  not  necessary.  We  obliqued 
to  the  South  on  our  return  home.  On  the  borders 
of  Wareham  met  a  man  with  his  gun,  waiting  for 
deer.  He  had  sent  his  dog  in  and  was  waiting  for 
the  deer  to  pass — this  is  the  common  practice  in 
hunting  them  as  the  covers  are  very  close.  If  the 
deer  could  have  seen  this  man's  phiz,  it  would  have 
startled  him  more  effectually  than  the  dog.  Our 
route  lay  along  Buzzard's  Bay,  through  Wareham 
and  Rochester,  thence  to  Middleborough  and  Bridge- 
water.  During  this  route  we  passed  many  small 
streams  and  ponds,  on  several  of  which,  are  Cotton 
Manufactories  and  Iron  works.— At  Wareham  8  or 
10  vessels  were  taking  in  wood,  or  discharging  iron 
ore.  This  ore  is  brought  from  New-Jersey,  and 
then  carted  from  hence  to  various  iron  works  in  this 
vicinity.  Before  leaving  the  sea  shore,  we  must 
make  one  remark  as  to  the  relative  size  of  our 
territory. — Some  persons  feel  abashed  when  they 
see  the  territorial  extent  of  some  of  the  States,  and 
compare  it  with  the  small  superficies  of  Massa 
chusetts  ;  but  to  get  at  a  just  calculation,  they  ought 
to  add  triple  the  amount  of  land  from  the  surrounding 
sea. — There  are  acres  in  this  sea  which  produce 
annually  five  times  as  much  as  the  richest  fields  ia 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  109 

the  South  and  the  West,*  and  the  population  floating 
about  on  it,  is  greater  than  their's  to  the  square  mile, 
and  the  property  in  the  vessels  greater  than  their's 
in  houses.  One  must  visit  closely  all  the  sinuosities 
of  our  coast,  to  understand  the  activity,  enterprize 
and  wealth  in  which  they  abound ;  the  neighbouring 
sea  is  part  of  our  domain — we  have  furrowed  it  so 
constantly,  that  we  may  claim  it  as  much  as  any 
ploug-hed  field,  and  we  derive  more  from  it  than 
any  field  can  produce.  I  say  nothing  of  the  charac 
ter  of  a  population,  that  has  the  sea  open  to  them, 
compared  with  one  pent  up  in  the  interior  of  a 
continent.  Tastes  often  depend  on  locality ;  we 
should  not  like  to  live  in  a  society,  that  was  not 
ventilated  by  the  sea  breeze. 

Our  ride  this  day  was  for  five  or  six  miles,  along 
the  Assawampset  pond  in  Middleborough,  presenting 
many  beautiful  views.  It  was  on  the  borders  of  this 
pond,  that  the  friendly  Indian  Sausaman  was  assassi 
nated  by  order  of  King  Philip  ;  which  murder  was 
a  prelude  to  the  war,  that  ended  in  the  destruction  of 
that  celebrated  chieftain  and  the  ruin  of  his  tribe. 
We  came  to  Bridge  water  to  sleep  at  Pratt's  inn, 
an  excellent  house  which  we  recommend  to  all 
travellers,  who  wish  to  meet  with  neatness,  good 
fare,  civility  and  kind  treatment ;  but  a  new  and 
unexpected  disaster  awaited  us  :  Nothing  less  than 
a  village  dance  of  twenty  couples.  They  had  come 

*  The  acres  alluded  to,  are  those,  where  a  plummet  can  hardly 
reach  the  bottom  without  striking  a  fish.  Fisher  Ames  said, 
that  "  every  cod-fish  drawn  up  had  a  pistareen  in  his  mouth.1' 

10 


110  TOUR  TO  SANDWICH. 

from  a  neighbouring  town,  began  to  dance  at  four  m 
the  afternoon,  and  danced  till  four  in  the  morning. 
Strange  that,  in  one  short  week,  we  should  thus 
have  been  discomfited  both  by  Themis  and  Terpsi 
chore.  However,  a  moment's  reflection  made  us 
submit  to  this  last  mishap  with  cheerfulness.  Our 
country  towns  are  too  much  infested  with  cant,  and 
gloom,  and  fanaticism.  The  spirits  and  blood  are 
curdled  and  gangrened  by  them.  Youth  requires 
amusement,  and  when  this  can  be  united  with  healthy 
and  graceful  exercise,  it  is  doubly  advantageous. 
A  little  more  of  innocent  gayety  would  help  to  deve- 
lope  their  faculties,  produce  more  vigorous  health, 
and  animate  them  to  the  discharge  of  all  their  duties. 
With  these  reflections,  we  willingly  gave  up  a  night's 
rest  to  the  good  of  the  commonwealth. 

IQlh. — A  North-East  wind,  bearing  on  its  dingy 
wings  a  soaking  mist,  directly  in  our  faces.  It  was 
precisely  one  of  the  cases,  in  which  a  wit  in  this 
vicinity  observed,  that  whatever  the  law  might  hold, 
he  considered  it  very  different  to  face  it  per  alium, 
rather  than  to  face  it  per  se*  The  ride  from  Bridge- 
water  through  Stoughtony  Randolph,  Milton  and 
Dorchester,  is  a  very  pleasing  one.  The  road  lies 
through  the  notch  of  the  Blue-Hills  ;  the  country  is 

*  This  legal  pun,  was  made  by  a  gentleman  recently  deceas 
ed,  the  late  Hon.  Timothy  Bigelow  of  Medford,  after  being 
exposed  to  a  biting  North- West  wind  during  a  long  ride,  in  a 
very  inclement  winter  day.  This  gentleman  was  known  to  the 
public,  for  the  many  civil  offices  he  had  usefully  filled  ;  and 
will  be  long  remembered  by  his  acquaintance  for  his  stores  of 
humour  and  anecdote. 


TOUR  TO  SANDWICH.  Ill 

a  fine  one,  and  in  an  improving  condition.  We 
observed  some  solid,  stone  houses  recently  built. 
Some  of  the  views  on  this  road  are  picturesque  and 
romantic.  We  advise  every  one  to  try  it  in  a  fair 
day.  If  such  had  been  our  fate,  we  should  have  had 
much  more  to  say — it  is  therefore  lucky  it  was  not. 
The  month  of  October  has  been  very  shabby  this 
year.  But  this  moon  came  of  a  Saturday — we  were 
told  how  it  would  be.  Let  travellers  beware  of  a 
Saturday's  moon.  We  reached  the  capital  well 
satisfied. 

Bostoniwn  longce  finis  chartceque  viwque  est. 


SECRET  CAUSES 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS. 


A  WISH  to  acquire  the  German  language,  combined 
with  other  motives,  induced  me  a  few  years  since, 
to  reside  for  a  considerable  period,  in  a  German 
town  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Rhine.  This  city, 
like  almost  every  other  in  that  book-producing 
country,  had  its  circle  of  literary  men  and  authors  : 
a  suitable  introduction  procured  me  admission  to  a  club 
of  these  gentlemen,  who  assembled  regularly  once 
a  week,  and  some  of  whom  fell  into  company  with 
each  other  almost  every  day.  In  this  circle  were 
two  or  three  romance  writers  and  dramatists,  but 
the  greater  number  was  made  up  of  those  literary 
confectioners,  who  preserve  a  small  kernel  in  such 
a  mass  of  paste  and  sugar,  that  all  its  flavour  and 
proportions  are  completely  lost  in  the  cumbrous  en 
velope  ;  in  short,  without  a  figure,  the  society  con 
tained  some  of  the  most  formidable  commentators  in 
all  Deutchland. 


SECRET  CAUSES,  &c.  us 

I  was  often  at  a  loss  in  our  meetings,  when  they 
were  engaged  in  their  favorite  pursuit  of  embalming 
some  particular  passage  in  an  ancient  classic  ;  which, 
after  being  completely  embowelled,  and  drugged 
and  swathed,  bore  as  little  resemblance  to  the  ani- 
n  \tion  of  the  original,  as  an  Egyptian  mummy  to  the 
person  it  was  intended  to  perpetuate.  On  these  oc 
casions  I  had  recourse  to  smoaking,  an  accomplish 
ment  I  attained  even  quicker  than  the  language, 
and  being  provided  with  a  beautiful  pipe  of  ecume 
de  mer,  an  exchange  of  tokens  with  my  friend  the 
Graf  von  Fumendorf,  I  speedily  enveloped  myself  in 
a  cloud,  and  in  this  secure  situation,  heedless  of  all 
the  crabbed  words  and  Babel  din  around  me,  be 
gan  at  once  some  castle  in  the  air,  my  pipe  serving 
all  the  purposes  of  the  wonderful  lamp,  and  trans 
porting  me  and  my  edifices,  with  as  much  rapidity, 
as  it  did  the  palace  of  Aladdin  :  if  at  these  moments 
my  friends  had  been  on  the  lookout,  they  might 
have  often  seen  their  shadows,  sweeping  over  the 
place  where  I  am  now  writing. 

The  town  offered  no  great  resources,  I  was  there 
fore  glad  to  be  an  honorary  member  of  this  club, 
where  if  the  subjects  of  discussion  became  too  ab 
struse,  I  could  seat  myself  in  one  corner  unnoticed. 
\nother  consideration  induced  me  to  attend  its 
meetings,  one  of  the  most  zealous  members  with 
whom  it  would  have  been  almost  an  offence  to  have 
lightly  valued  the  privilege  of  admission,  had  a 
family  which  pleased  me,  where  I  was  allowed  to 
visit  at  my  ease.  He  was  himself  a  worthy,  agreea 
ble  man,  when  taken  out  of  his  pedantic  course  ol' 
10* 


114  SECRET  CAUSES  OF  THE 

conversation.  He  had  a  sister  of  nearly  his  own 
age,  which  was  the  upper  side  of  fifty.  Her  figure 
approached  the  Doric  proportion,  as  that  allows  five 
diameters  of  the  column  for  its  height,  though  na 
ture  had  given  her  person,  only  one  and  a  quarter. 
She  had  resolved  to  lead  a  single  life,  and  "  this  re 
solution  made  the  happiness  of  some  unknown  indi 
vidual  ;"  but  though  she  had  declined  a  duet  obligate 
for  life,  she  was  still  very  fond  of  music,  and  pur 
sued  it  as  indefatigably,  as  her  brother  did  his  exe- 
getical  studies.  A  sonata  of  an  hour's  length  had 
no  terrors  for  her,  and  if  it  was  only  difficult,  she 
cared  not  how  long  it  was.  Woelfe  appeared  at 
times  to  please  her,  as  much  as  Haydn,  or  Mozart : 
yet  when  she  descended  from  the  higher  abstrac 
tions  of  the  science,  she  could  display  a  delicate 
taste  and  true  sensibility  for  what  was  intrinsically 
beautiful.  This  lady  was  besides  anxious  to  know 
iiow  the  world  went  on,  and  had  a  friend  at  the 
Courts  of  Vienna  and  Weimar,  whose  punctual  cor 
respondence  furnished  her  with  abundance  of  anec 
dote,  which  she  imparted  with  discreet  liberality. 
She  had  for  her  companion  a  niece,  who  was  a  most 
delightful  German  specimen.  With  much  candour 
and  simplicity,  she  possessed  a  great  deal  of  mild 
enthusiasm,  that  excited  a  tranquil  and  gentle  kind  of 
pleasure,  without  any  dread  of  that  deep  and  dange 
rous  contagion,  which  the  same  quality  is  apt  to 
create  in  southern  Italy.  Her  tastes  were  extreme 
ly  national,  she  could  waltz  for  hours  together  with 
out  being  dizzy ;  believed  the  sorrows  of  Werter  a 
much  finer  production  than  Gil  Bias,  and  doubtless 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.      115 

now  prefers  the  novels  of  Auguste  La  Fontaine,  to 
Guy  Mannering  and  the  Tales  of  my  Landlord. 
Her  accent  was  the  purest  and  softest  Saxon,  and 
Carracioli  who  would  not  learn  the  German,  because 
he  could  not  speak  it  of  a  Sunday,  without  violating 
the  fourth  commandment,  would  have  given  up  his 
prejudice,  if  he  had  heard  her  lisp  all  its  sweetness, 
inferior  only  to  his  own  Italian.  Beneath  a  fair 
forehead,  and  the  flaxen  locks  which  clustered  over 
it  in  beautiful  ringlets,  her  eyes  beamed  full  of  art 
less,  genial  expression,  and  they  were  covered  with 
eyelids  of  such  soft  and  lucid  beauty,  that  when 
closed,  they  only  softened  the  rays  that  traversed 
them,  operating  like  the  globe  of  a  moonlight  lamp, 
— but  these  eyes  neither  were,  nor  are,  any  thing  to 
me,  integer  laudo. 

Such  were  the  three  persons,  who  composed  the 
family  in  which  1  was  most  intimate  ;  but  there  was 
another  individual  who  though  only  a  guest  like  my 
self,  formed  almost  a  part  of  it.  This  personage 
was  a  French  emigrant,  an  ultra  royalist  with  the 
manners  of  the  old  school,  under  which  however,  he 
possessed  a  good  deal  of  originality.  He  made  the 
campaigns  of  our  revolutionary  war,  as  Major  of  the 
Regiment  of  Soissonois ;  of  which  ancient  corps  the 
only  vestige  now  existing,  if  the  expression  may  be 
permitted,  is  the  uniform  of  our  Boston  Cadets, 
which  was  copied  from  that  of  this  regiment.  Un 
like  most  persons  of  his  political  opinions,  he  felt  no 
bitterness  against  a  country,  to  whose  independence, 
many  politicians  attributed  the  subsequent  convul 
sions  of  Europe.  On  the  contrary,  like  a  certain 


116  SECRET  CAUSES  OF  THE 

fleeting  Emperor,*  he  loved  the  Americans,  though 
after  a  different  manner  ;  and  this  partiality,  joined 
to  his  local  knowledge  of  my  country,  the  com 
mon  condition  of  being  strangers,  and  our  equal  dis 
like  of  endless  grammarians  and  commentators,  made 
us  sympathise  together.  Indeed  we  formed  an  ex 
ample  to  prove,  how  completely  men  with  good 
feelings  and  good  manners  may  harmonize,  though 
cherishing  very  different  principles.  My  friend  the 
Viscount  de  C — ,  though  he  could  not  shew  proofs  of 
sixteen  quarters,  or  boast  of  having  one  of  the 
"  historical  names'"  of  France,  was  yet  a  gentleman 
of  ancient  family,  which  had  retained  this  title  more 
than  two  centuries ;  he  was  a  rigid  royalist,  I  was  a 
stern  republican ;  he  was  extremely  irritable  and 
sometimes  strongly  excited  by  trifles,  while  I 
thought  there  were  few  things  in  this  world  worth 
getting  into  a  passion  about.  We  were  both  vic 
tims  of  the  ordinary  discussions  of  the  club  before 
mentioned  ;  but  instead  of  my  consolation  of  smoaking, 
the  Viscount  went  soundly  to  sleep,  amidst  the 
wreck  of  nouns  and  verbs.  In  the  family  where  we 
daily  visited,  there  was  no  rivalship  5  while  I  was 
admiring  Christina's  eyes,  and  vainly  trying  to  imi 
tate  her  soft  Saxon  accents,  she  all  the  while  em 
broidering  muslin,  for  Arachne  herself  was  not  more 
indefatigable,  and  occasionally  smiling  at  my  ridicu 
lous  mistakes ;  the  Viscount  was  accompanying  the 
aunt,  with  his  violin  through  one  of  those  intermi 
nable,  German  Sonatas,  interrupted  once  in  a  while 
by  some  discussion  about  time,  or  the  fingering  of  a 

:>::  Fuit  /—He  must  be  judged  by  posterity. 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.      117 

passage.  They  were  both  unrelenting  musicians, 
and  he  had  many  strange  whims  connected  with 
Music,  some  of  which  it  is  my  purpose  to  relate. 

The  members  of  our  society  could  vie  with  al 
most  any  other  in  Germany,  in  the  quantity  of  their 
products ;  and  every  fair  at  Leipsic  was  enriched  by 
their  labours.  In  the  course  of  the  year,  in  which 
I  became  acquainted  with  them,  they  had  produced 
a  commentary  on  Silius  Italicus  in  a  thick  octavo ; 
illustrations  of  Pacuvius  in  two  duodecimos  ;  a  quarto 
on  the  Phenician  language,  which  was  as  thick  as  it 
was  square,  closely  resembling  the  authors  head  in 
this  particular  ;  and  two  or  three  small  pamphlets,  to 
clear  some  supposed  doubts  on  a  passage  in  the 
second  Georgic.  But  as  Virgil  dipped  his  pen  in 
the  purest  fount  of  Castalia,  the  passage  remained 
clear,  in  spite  of  their  explanations.  Twice  a  year 
they  had  a  relaxation  from  these  severer  toils,  and 
then,  one  meeting  of  the  club  was  devoted  to  lighter 
occupations.  The  Viscount  and  myself  were  invited 
to  join  in  the  first  occasion  of  this  kind  that  occur 
red,  after  we  had  been  introduced  to  them,  when 
they  had  decided  to  have  a  pic  me,  for  which  every 
member  was  to  bring  an  adverb. 

This  festal  meeting  recalled  to  mind,  Home 
Tooke's  reason  for  writing  his  Diversions  of  Purley, 
"  that  he  had  nearly  fallen  a  victim  to  one  conjunc 
tion  and  two  prepositions  ;"  and  I  did  not  know  what 
my  fate  might  be,  in  this  shock  of  adverbs.  Resolved 
however,  to  fall  with  arms  in  my  hand,  I  selected 
that  beautiful  compound  from  the  Pequod  language, 
that  has  given  so  much  delight  to  all  our  volup 
tuaries  in  philology — Owhatsillininniesdullpedantsare 


lit  SECRET  CAUSES  OF  THE 

This  though  not  the  longest  in  that  primitive  tongue, 
now  it  may  be  feared  irrecoverably  lost,  is  still  suf 
ficiently  striking  in  its  composition,  to  admit  of  many 
ingenious  remarks  and  inferences,  and  I  had  prepar 
ed  myself  to  explain  it,  in  the  best  manner  I  was 
able. 

I  still  felt  some  anxiety  about  the  Viscount,  who 
had  as  little  relish  as  myself,  for  the  ordinary  pur 
suits  of  the  club,  and  who  smiled  sarcastically  at  the 
idea  of  the  amusement,  selected  for  the  pic  nic.  I 
inquired  of  him  what  he  intended  to  bring  forward, 
whether  he  had  gone  to  the  languages  of  Oc  or  Oil, 
or  taken  some  particle  from  their  living  descend- 
ants.  He  said,  he  should  not  give  into  any  such 
folly,  that  he  was  tired  with  this  eternal  cavilling  at 
words,  that  were  perfectly  innocent  and  praise 
worthy,  till  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  commenta 
tors  ;  that  he  would  shew  them  a  better  example,  and 
that  it  was  high  time  they  should  give  up  this  per 
secution  of  words,  and  turn  their  attention  to  things. 
I  suggested  to  him  the  great  utility  of  their  learn 
ed  labours.  Eh  morbleu  !  said  he,  what  do  you  talk 
to  me  about  utility !  look  at  one  of  these  fine  books 
they  produce,  no  text,  all  notes,  looking  like  a  box 
of  pins,  or  fishhooks,  thrown  together,  you  cannot 
take  hold  of  them  without  a  guantlet  of  mail : 
These  charming  works  of  theirs,  resemble  a  coun 
try  that  should  be  covered  with  stone  walls,  or  thorn 
hedges  stuck  closely  together  without  a  single  patch 
of  smooth  meadow  to  be  seen. — I  do  injustice  to  his 
figures  in  my  translation,  for  he  was  as  full  of  quaint- 
ness,  as  vivacity.  I  wished  to  keep  him  from 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.      119 

being  irritated  lest  he  might  offend  our  friends  and 
said ;  but  my  dear  Viscount,  if  you  have  not  a  taste 
for  these  studies,  you  know  they  are  favourite  ones 
in  Germany ;  and  though  you  and  I  want  from  Fame 
only  a  life  annuity,  yet  these  gentlemen  labour  for 
immortality — O  yes  truly,  a  fine  immortality  !  they 
first  disguise  their  uncouth,  gothic  names  under  a 
latin  termination,  Donderheadibus,  Thickscullingius^ 
looking  like  strolling  players  in  tawdry,  regal  cos 
tumes  ;  and  then  write  a  book  that  nobody  can  read, 
that  it  may  be  stuck  on  the  shelves  of  a  library,  and 
taken  down  once  a  year,  to  be  dusted. — These  same 
books  owing  their  escape  from  the  worms,  only  to 
being  such  a  jumble  of  all  languages,  that  no  worms 
can  penetrate  them  ;  because  look  you,  a  worm  that 
has  been  used  to  feeding  on  Greek,  can  hardly  get 
through  two  leaves  before  he  is  choaked  with  a 
Hebrew  or  Arabic  term ;  and  another  that  has  been 
brought  up  on  Latin,  dies  of  an  indigestion  of  Ger 
man  ;  while  a  third  who  has  been  nourished  with 
French,  pines  away  before  he  gets  through  a  vein 
of  English.  No  their  works  are  only  indestructible, 
because  they  are  indigestible — I  tried  in  vain  to 
learn  what  he  intended  to  do — all  I  could  obtain 
from  him  was — "  You  will  see  !" 

The  evening  came,  and  I  never  attended  the  club 
with  so  strong  a  feeling  of  curiosity.  The  courtesy 
of  the  members  assigned  to  their  guests,  the  privi 
lege  of  reading  first,  and  my  deferring  to  the  Vis 
count  would  have  been  a  matter  of  inclination,  if  his 
age  had  not  made  it  one  of  course.  We  were  all 
attention,  when  this  ultra  royalist  drew  from  his 


120  SECRET  CAUSES  OF  THE 

pocket  a  Manuscript,  which  was  nothing  short  of  a 
volume.  I  gave  an  involuntary  sigh,  at  the  appear 
ance  of  this  paper,  and  was  convinced  my  adverb 
would  not  see  the  lamp  that  evening.  The  club 
however,  were  not  men  to  take  alarm  at  the  length 
of  any  work,  and  their  countenances  lighted  up  with 
a  mixture  of  surprise  and  expectation.  Having 
fixed  himself  in  an  easy  position  at  the  table,  and 
adjusted  his  spectacles,  the  author  before  com 
mencing  his  paper,  observed  to  the  club  ;  "  that  he 
knew  nothing  about  adverbs,  that  without  denying 
the  importance  of  discussions  he  did  not  understand, 
he  had  listened  profoundly  to  their  speculations ;  (I 
have  before  said  he  always  went  to  sleep,)  that  he 
had  taken  up  a  subject  of  far  different  consequence 
than  the  insignificant  parts  of  speech,  and  he  claim 
ed  their  attention  to  a  matter  which  had  occupied 
his  most  serious  reflection  for  a  long  period ;  and 
the  facts  in*  relation  to  it,  were  derived  from  a  wide 
experience  of  nearly  forty  years.  He  added,  that 
the  paper  he  should  then  have  the  honour  of  read 
ing,  was  a  memoir,  on  the  influence  of  music  in  an 
cient  and  modern  times ;  in  the  course  of  which,  he 
should  shew  incontrovertibly,  that  the  American  and 
French  revolutions,  were  owing  to  the  use  and 
abuse  of  Music  in  their  respective  countries."  I  was 
lost  in  doubt  whether  J  had  heard  him  right,  while 
the  members  of  the  society,  with  two  or  three  ex 
ceptions,  seemed  very  cheerfully  to  resign  their  ex 
ploits  among  the  indeclinables,  for  that  evening. 

This  memoir  began  with  the    origin  of  music,  he 
commenced  with  the  Egyptian,  Linus,  enlarged  on 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.     121 

the  adventures  of  Orpheus  and  Amphion  ;  and  when 
he  got  into  the  tomb  of  Osymandyas,  I  did  not  know 
whether  we  should  ever  see  any  thing-  more  than 
his  ghost  again.  After  narrating  how  the  Arcadians 
were  first  civilized  by  music,  and  getting  through  what 
most  persons  consider  its  fabulous  era,  he  fell  into 
more  precise  definitions,  facts  and  inferences.  He 
dwelt  upon  the  Chromatic,  Diatonic,  and  Enharmo 
nic  modes,  he  described  the  various  sects  of  the 
Agenorians,  Epigonians,  Eratoclians,  &c.  and  conclud 
ed  with  a  more  particular  account  of  the  two  great 
musical  parties  of  Greece,  the  Pythagoreans,  and 
Aristoxenians.  He  demonstrated  the  fatal  consequen 
ces,  that  followed  from  the  alteration,  which  Polym- 
nestes  made  in  the  strings  of  his  harp  ;  enlarged  on 
the  mischievous  tendency  of  the  Dithyrambics,  and 
justly  stigmatized  the  lonians,  on  the  authority  of 
the  principal  philosophers  of  Greece,  as  being  the 
great  corrupters  of  music  ;  laying  great  stress  on  the 
remarks  of  Anaxilas,  that  music  like  Lybia  annually 
produced  some  new  monster,  which  he  said  was  em 
phatically  true  of  our  own  times,  at  least  with  regard 
to  the  music,  whose  power  of  production  in  this  way 
was  inexhaustible.  He  cited  the  testimony  of  Aristo 
tle,  who  shewed  how  the  corruption  of  music  had  im 
mediately  engendered  that  of  dancing,  and  the  experi 
ence  of  our  own  unhappy  times  had  illustrated  in  the 
strongest  manner  the  common  axiom,  that  like  causes 
will  produce  like  effects. — He  took  many  passages 
from  both  Plutarch  and  Plato  to  shew,  that  the  decay 
of  music  entailed  the  ruin  of  Greece,  more  certain 
ly  than  the  arms  and  intrigues  of  Philip  ;  and  dwelt 
11 


322  SECRET  CAUSES  OF 

on  the  sublime  wisdom  of  Plato,  who  thought  the  fate 
of  Greece  would  be  secure,  if  Athens  should  banish 
forever  the  plaintive  accents  of  the  Lydian,  the  ef 
feminacy  of  the  Ionian,  and  retain  only  the  energy  of 
the  Dorian,  and  the  peaceful,  religious  character  of 
the  Phrygian.  He  said  but  little  about  the  Ro 
mans,  whom  he  considered  comparatively  barba 
rians  ;  every  thing  they  possessed  of  the  arts  was 
borrowed  from  the  Greeks,  and  they  had  no  original 
music  except  the  obscene  Fescinnina. — This  is  a  very 
slight  abstract  of  the  points  he  touched  upon  in  an 
cient  history  ;  his  memoir  shewed  very  deep  re 
search,  without  intending  any  idle  display  of  super 
fluous  learning. 

He  was  equally  profound  and  more  diffuse  in  his 
examination  of  the  modern  history,  noticing  every 
important  event,  from  the  epoch  when  the  Benedic 
tine  Aretinus  presented  to  Pope  John  the  20th,  the 
present  system  of  notation,  down  to  the  animated 
warfare  between  the  Piccinists  and  Gluckists,  which 
convulsed  the  Parisian  public  ;  and  according  to  him, 
laid  the  foundation  for  those  sanguinary  disasters, 
that  accompanied  the  overthrow  of  the  French  mo 
narchy — of  course  as  he  came  to  this  era,  his  facts 
were  more  numerous  and  his  deductions  made  with 
greater  care.  He  shewed,  that  after  the  ancient 
French  music  was  overthrown  by  the  united  attacks 
of  the  Italians  and  Germans,  and  the  contest  was  be 
tween  Gluck  and  Piecing  and  not  between  these  two 
and  the  severe  followers  of  Rameau,  how  every  kind 
of  frivolity  and  corruption  too  surely  presaged  the 
dreadful  disorders  that  ensued.  He  thought  the 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.     123 

Italians  like  the  ancient  lonians,  the  most  dangerous 
from  the  seduction  of  their  soft  and  voluptuous  mu 
sic,  and  even  Gluck  he  held  to  be  infinitely  below  the 
austerity  of  the  ancient  French  or  Grecian  schools. 
14  Take"  said  he, u  the  celebrated  invocation  in  the 
opera  of  Armida,  ven  ez  esprits  cTenfer,  the  most  vaunt 
ed  effort  of  Gluck,  and  compare  it  with  a  theurgic 
chorus  of  Lasus,  and  how  contemptible  it  will  appear ! 
(By  the  way  I  thought,  at  the  time,  he  would  have 
been  puzzled  to  give  the  air  of  the  latter.)  He 
proved  as  the  great  philosophers  of  Greece  had 
done  before  him,  in  the  case  of  their  country,  that 
when  their  music  became  corrupt,  dancing  soon  felt 
its  influence,  and  the  degradation  of  both,  brought 
on  inevitably  the  decay  of  morals."  He  interrupted 
his  reading  here  for  a  moment  to  say  ; — u  you  know 
gentlemen,  my  political  principles,  that  I  have 
always  been  ready  to  lay  down  my  life  for  them 
and  that  they  have  caused  my  long  expatriation. 
It  is  natural  that  I  should  wish  to  return  to  France, 
Louis  18th  is  at  length  restored  to  the  throne  of 
his  ancestors,  but  all  the  appearances  of  tranquil 
lity  will  be  delusive,  unless  there  is  a  radical  re 
formation  ;  and  never  will  I  return  to  my  coun 
try,  until  the  jacobin  fashion  of  pantaloons  is  laid 
aside,  and  the  aristocratic  mode  of  breeches  is  re 
sumed  ;  until  the  pestilent,  whirling  waltz,  which 
has  turned  every  one's  head,  and  the  huddled,  con 
fused  country  dances,*  are  proscribed,  to  give  way 
for  the  resumption  of  the  solemn,  dignified  minuet ; 
until  the  Italian  music  is  banished  and  the  ancient 

*  French  country  dances  are  what  we  call  c-otillion?, 


124  SECRET  CAUSES  OF  THE 

French  is  restored — because  till  these  changes  are 
effected,  I  am  convinced  there  can  be  no  permanent 
security,  and  I  should  only  have  the  grief  of  seeing 
that  dear  France  exposed  to  new  calamities. 

This  is  a  very  imperfect  reminiscence  of  his  the 
ory,  as  regarded  Europe,  in  which  I  felt  less  interest 
ed  than  in  what  related  to  my  own  country.  He  al 
lowed  me  afterwards  to  take  a  copy  of  that  part  of 
the  memoir,  which  went  to  prove  that  the  American 
revolution  was  owing  to  the  state  of  our  music. 
This  is  among  my  papers,  and  must  be  reserved  for 
H  future  occasion.  In  the  mean  time  I  may  be  per 
mitted  to  observe,  that  though  the  idea  seemed  at 
first  wholly  preposterous,  my  opinion  was  much 
changed  on  reading  his  memoir.  I  was  not  indeed 
fully  convinced  by  it,  and  there  still  appeared  to  be 
a  good  deal  of  fancy  in  his  system.  He  had  been 
evidently  a  most  accurate  observer  of  facts,  and  was 
very  sagacious  in  the  results  he  drew  from  them.  I 
can  do  no  more  now,  than  state  two  or  three  exam 
ples  of  the  former.  He  said  that  the  American  re 
volution,  originated,  was  nourished,  and  chiefly  ef 
fected,  by  the  people  in  New  England.  That  these 
people  were,  previous  to  that  revolution,  almost 
wholly  without  instruments  of  music,  except  the 
drum  and  fife.  That  every  village  had  its  singing 
master,  and  among  these  men,  were  to  be  found  some 
of  the  most  peculiar  and  marked  characters  in  the 
country.  That  their  style  of  singing  was  borrowed 
from  the  frogs,  whose  strength  and  modulation  of 
voice  were  much  greater  in  America  than  in  Europe  ; 
the  resemblance  being  so  strong,  that  if  an  auditor 


AMERICAN  AND  FRENCH  REVOLUTIONS.     12<> 

placed  himself  about  equidistant  between  a  pool 
tenanted  by  these  creatures,  and  a  singing  school, 
he  would  find  it  impossible  to  tell  the  difference  of 
the  sounds.  That  the  character  of  their  sacred, 
which  was  almost  their  only,  music,  inspired  a  self- 
controul,  an  energy,  a  foresight,  that  had  the  most 
powerful  influence  on  their  conduct.  The  people 
he  observed,  though  heretics,  were  yet  very  devout, 
and  he  had  often  heard  them  with  astonishment  when 
singing  their  hymns  ;  an  elder  read  a  line,  the  whole 
congregation  sang  it,  they  then  stopped  in  the  midst 
of  the  tune,  and  of  the  sense,  till  he  read  another, 
which  process  was  continued  throughout. — What 
must  not  a  people  be  equal  to,  he  asked,  who  were 
capable  of  such  self  command  and  suspension  of 
feeling  as  this  practice  required  ?  A  further  proof  he 
said  might  be  found  in  the  change  that  had  taken 
place  since  the  custom  was  dropped,  as  he  under 
stood  it  had  been,  the  present  generation  had  great 
ly  fallen  off  from  the  virtues  of  their  ancestors.  He 
had  made  a  critical  examination,  and  many  curious 
comments  on  that  celebrated  anthem,  now  very 
scarce,  which  begun — "  By  the  river  of  Watertown 
1  sat  down,  and  wept  for  the  sins  of  Boston."  But 
this  paper  which  was  only  intended  as  an  introduc 
tion  to  his  theory,  is  grown  to  a  great  length;  and 
justice  cannot  be  done  to  the  author,  without  giving 
his  system  entire, — this  must  be  postponed  to  some 
future  opportunity. 


11 


'THE  PRINCE  OF  THE  POWER  OF  THE  AIR. 

A  VISION. 

\on  \l  maravigliate  ;  ma  crerlete.  Dantr. 


TOWARDS  the  close  of  summer  in  the  year op 
pressed  with  the  closeness  of  a  sultry  day,  I  saunter 
ed  out  into  the  fields  to  seek  for  greater  freshness  in 
the  open  air,  taking  with  me  Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 
\  short  walk  through  some  woodland  led  to  an 
eminence  whose  summit  rising  above  the  surround 
ing  territory,  gave  an  opportunity  to  any  current  of 
air  for  which  I  was  panting,  to  reach  me  unimpeded. 
The  declining  sun  was  still  some  hours  above  the 
horizon,  and  I  found  at  the  base  of  a  huge  moss- 
covered  rock  of  granite,  a  shelter  from  its  rays. 
A.  spreading  and  majestic  walnut  cast  its  broad 
shadows  on  the  parched  ground  along  side,  and 
gave  to  the  eye  at  least  some  refreshment. 

The  scene  around  was  pleasing,  though  possessed 
of  no  very  striking  feature.  The  spot  on  which  I 
reclined,  was  in  a  rough,  wild  pasture  on  a  range  of 
hills,  that  formed  the  western  side  of  an  irregular 


A  VISION.  127 

valley  of  moderate  extent.  Immediately  below  me, 
a  copse  of  young  wood  sloped  down  to  the  edge  of 
a  small  brook,  rippling  through  a  meadow,  bounded 
by  a  field  of  ripening  corn.  The  hills  were  rocky 
and  barren,  except  where  covered  with  forests.  At 
two  different  points  they  sloped  away,  so  as  to  give 
an  opening  for  the  highways,  through  this  secluded 
region.  The  surface  of  the  valley  was  interspersed 
with  pastures,  cultivated  fields,  meadows  and  orchards, 
with  several  farm-houses  and  large  barns,  a  cluster 
of  which,  at  some  distance,  formed  a  hamlet.  As 
the  eye  followed  the  opening  through  the  hills, 
these  variegated  farms  were  terminated  by  a  plain 
and  wide  expanse  of  meadows,  lying  on  the  edge  of 
the  sea,  whose  distant  wave  almost  blending  its  tints 
with  the  sky,  might  render  it  doubtful  to  the  sight, 
which  element  supported  the  white  sails  diminished 
to  the  size  of  a  bird,  that  were  skimming  along  the 
horizon. 

After  gazing  a  while  on  this  quiet  scene,  and 
indulging  in  a  little  vague  reverie  which  the  sight 
of  the  ocean  seldom  fails  to  awaken ;  I  opened  that 
immortal  poem  where  Hell  and  Paradise  are  de 
scribed  with  unequalled  beauty  and  sublimity ;  and 
the  actors  in  the  scenes  shadowed  out  with  a  gran 
deur  and  distinctness,  that  places  them  in  the  regions 
of  imagination,  at  a  distance  hitherto  unattained  by 
any  other  human  intellect,  excepting  only  him,  who 
"  exhausted  worlds  and  then  imagined  new." 

I  had  nearly  concluded  the  second  book,  when  a 
rustling  sound  which  had  caught  my  ear  for  a  moment 
or  two,  seemed  encroaching,  and  increasing  in  vio- 


128  A  VlSIOJC. 

lence.  I  looked  up  and  beheld  the  distant  landscape 
obscured  with  rolling"  dust  and  vapours.  A  sudden 
tornado  had  arisen,  which  was  advancing  on  the 
wings  of  the  whirlwind  up  the  valley.  The  dense 
blackness  of  the  clouds,  the  violence,  the  noise  and 
rapidity  of  its  approach,  were  appalling.  To  regain 
the  house  was  impossible,  I  drew  closer  to  the  rock 
for  shelter,  all  the  objects  of  the  landscape  were 
rapidly  hidden  from  my  sight,  and  the  blast  reached 
me  so  instantaneously,  that  it  seemed  to  come  at  one 
furious  bound  from  a  long  distance.  Confused  with 
its  roaring-,  half  suffocated  with  the  dust  and  leaves, 
I  was  torn  from  my  seat  and  rolled  over  on  the  ground. 

A  moment  after  I  found  myself  hurled  aloft  in  the 
eddying  whirls  of  the  hurricane,  and  carried  with 
such  dreadful  velocity,  that  in  a  short  space  I  thought 
I  had  ascended  some  scores  of  miles  in  altitude  ; 
the  force  of  the  wind  still  seemed  to  support  me  and 
I  was  dreading  the  moment  when  it  would  cease, 
and  my  downward  course  terminate  in  my  being 
dashed  to  atoms.  The  current  that  had  thus  taken 
me  up,  seemed  to  have  attained  its  utmost  height 
and  was  beginning  to  fail,  when  it  rose  again  for  a 
moment  with  renewed  elasticity,  and  gave  me  a  toss 
as  it  where,  leaving  me  to  fall  but  a  few  feet,  on  what 
seemed  a  bed  of  vapour,  so  dense,  that  it  could  bear 
my  weight. 

Before  I  could  fully  recover  my  breath,  or  compose 
my  senses  to  look  about,  a  strange  being  stalked 
towards  me  who  was  neither  a  man,  though  erect  in 
altitude,  nor  resembling  any  animal  that  1  had  ever 
before  seen  ;  and  whose  whole  appearance  was  so 


A  VISION.  129 

varying  and  bewildering,  that  1  could  not  fix  any 
idea  of  his  size.  He  grasped  hold  of  me  and  after 
several  sounds  or  words  that  were  incomprehensible, 
exclaimed — "  Why  what  art  thou  that  casts  a  shade  ?* 
and  how  comest  thou  hither  ?"  he  continued  with  a 
malicious  grin  and  laugh.  Overcome  with  amaze 
ment  and  horror,  these  questions  by  fixing  my  atten 
tion,  afforded  me  some  relief  and  I  replied  with  a 
degree  of  firmness  that  grew  out  of  desperation — 
"  Who  thou  art  thus  questioning  me  I  know  not,  or 
what  there  is  in  my  case  that  amuses  you — I  came 
hither  on  a  whirlwind — but  in  the  name  of  Heaven, 
where  am  I  and  who  art  thou." — "  I  will  inform 
thee,  unlucky  inhabitant  of  the  earth,  but  beware 
how  thou  adjurest  me  by  the  name  of  heaven  or  any 
of  its  inhabitants,  for  I  will  instantly  abandon  thee, 
beware  of  that,  and  I  will  protect  thee  from  harm 
till  thy  lot  is  decided  by  the  monarch  I  serve. — These 
are  the  dominions  of  Hell's  most  potent  Chief,  the 
realms  of  the  Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Mr,  I  am  his 
subject,  and  have  come  to  this  remote  point  on  a 
tour  of  observation.  Come  with  me,  I  am  bound  to 

*  Gome  color  dinanzi  vider  rotta 
La  luce  in  terra  dal  mio  destro  canto 
SicchS  1'ombr'era  da  me  alia  grotta, 

Restaro,  e  trasser  se  indietro  alquanto  ; 
E  tutti  gli  altri  che  venieno  appresso, 
Non  sapiendo  '1  perche,  pro  altretanto. 

Sanza  vostra  dimanda  j'  vi  confesso 
Che  queste  e  corpo  uman,  che  voi  vedete  ; 
Perche  '1  lume  del  sole  in  terra  £  fesso, 

Non  vi  maravigliate  ;  ma  credete,  <fec. 

Purgatorio  Canto,  3.  v,  88. 


130  A  VISION. 

his  Court ;  and  if  thine  eyes  can  bear  the  vision, 
thou  shall  behold  far  other  sights  than  thou  hast 
ever  yet  beheld,  than  any  being  ever  can  behold, 
through  whom  the  light  does  not  pass  as  unimpeded, 
as  through  the  air,  but  thy  gross  corporeal  frame 
casts  a  shadow  from  the  light ;  the  first  that  ever 
fell  on  these  regions  except  from  the  eclipse  of  the 
planets." 

Thus  saying  he  led  or  bore  me  onwards.  I  felt 
his  grasp,  but  when  I  attempted  to  take  hold  of  him, 
my  hand  closed  as  if  it  pressed  nothing  but  the  air. 
He  told  me  I  should  arrive  at  the  right  moment  to 
hear  the  reports  of  the  spirits,  which  had  been  sent 
to  the  globe  I  came  from ;  and  that  I  should  have  an 
opportunity  to  learn  how  the  devil  got  into  this 
world,  and  hear  the  results  of  his  agency. 

We  moved  with  prodigious  velocity,  yet  without 
apparent  effort.  It  was  neither  sailing,  nor  running, 
nor  flying,  but  resembling  in  a  degree  that  amuse 
ment,  where  placed  on  some  vehicle  we  glide  with 
rapidity  down  an  inclined  plane.  Our  motion  was 
the  same,  whether  the  course  was  upwards,  down 
wards  or  horizontal,  and  the  inequalities  of  the 
route  partook  of  all  these  varieties,  I  could  form  no 
clear  idea  of  the  region  we  traversed ;  every  thing 
was  vast  and  vapoury.  T-he  medium  was  sometimes 
obscure,  at  others  so  pellucid  and  tannsparent  that 
it  was  even  a  mockery  of  air.  At  some  moments 
the  prospect  before  us  was  suddenly  closed  with 
seemingly  impenetrable  masses  of  huge,  precipitous 
hills,  through  which  we  passed  with  as  little  oppo 
sition  as  fishes  glide  through  their  element ;  at  the 


A  VISION.  131 

next  moment  the  perspective  was  vast,  illimitable. 
We  were  occasionally  involved  in  utter  darkness, 
and  anon  we  moved  through  every  hue  and  shifting 
tone  of  light,  but  what  seemed  most  frequent  in  this 
strange  region  was  a  kind  of  intense  moonlight — 
Whether  the  objects  we  saw  were  the  spirits  of 
material  things,  or  clouds  assuming  various  shapes, 
I  knew  not.  In  looking  at  the  sky  from  this  earth, 

Sometimes  we  sec  a  cloud  that's  dragonish, 
A  vapour  sometime  like  a  bear  or  lion, 
A  tower'd  citadel,  a  pendant  rock, 
A  forked  mountain  or  blue  promontory, 
With  trees  upon't  that  nod  unto  the  world, 
And  mock  our  eyes  with  air. 

Yet  here  they  exceeded  the  wildest  delineations  of 
fancy. 

I  observed  in  our  course,  that  these  realms  con 
tained  no  spectres  of  animated  beings,  but  only  the 
resemblances  of  material  things  remarkable  for  their 
deformity,  for  their  noxious  qualities,  or  from  being 
associated  with  bad  deeds  which  were  transferred 
here  as  a  place  of  punishment.  Those  waste,  dilapi 
dated  grounds  near  our  cities,  converted  from  valua 
ble  pasture  lands,  into  unsaleable  prospective  house 
lots,  were  here  arrayed.  In  one  direction  I  beheld 
the  fens  of  New-Jersey,  with  their  myriads  of 
musquitoes,  in  others  some  of  the  swamps  of  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  rank  with  pestilence  and  plenty.  On 
my  left  I  passed  the  apparition  of  those  desolate 
fields  near  Salem  with  the  gibbets  on  which  the 
wretched  witches  were  executed ;  next  to  these 
were  the  shades  of  Wyoming,  where  the  innocent 


132  A  VISION. 

Moravians  were  cruelly  massacred  ;  on  the  opposite 
side  I  saw  the  prison  and  the  street  in  Baltimore 
where  an  execrable  mob  murdered  the  defenceless. 
My  guide  informed  me  that  the  actors  in  these  and 
other  crimes  committed  on  earth,  were  held  else 
where  in  punishment.  That  the  semblances  of  in 
animate  objects  only  were  transferred  here  ;  and 
that  the  Prince  and  those  of  his  subjects  in  these 
regions,  were  solely  occupied  in  devising  mischief  and 
the  ruin  of  mankind. 

My  guide  announced  to  me,  that  we  were  ap 
proaching  the  place  where  the  monarch  held  his 
Court ;  when  I  observed  for  many  miles  of  our 
passage  scattered  in  every  direction  the  apparition 
of  all  the  public  buildings  that  were  erected  in  vio 
lation  of  the  rules  of  architecture,  edifices  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  among  them  were  almost  all 
of  those  in  the  United  States.  The  spectres  of  these 
were  here  placed  in  penance,  all  their  defects  ag 
gravated  by  the  glare  of  false  lights  and  harsh  un 
seemly  contrasts. 

Every  feeling  of  curiosity,  anxiety  and  wonder 
was  painfully  increased,  as  we  came  nearer  to  our 
destination.  The  objects  were  more  numerous, 
motion  was  accelerated,  and  the  universal  bustle 
was  like  the  anxious,  hurried  preparation  for  a  con 
flict.  At  the  same  time  the  obscurity  became  greater, 
produced  by  darkness  at  one  moment,  by  shifting, 
gloomy  kinds  of  light,  and  by  fleeting  mists  followed 
in  jarring  contradiction,  with  vollies  of  suffocating 
dust.  The  traveller  who  has  seen  this  earth  only, 
can  form  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  scene,  if  he  recol- 


A  VISION.  133 

iects  the  confusion  of  his  feelings,  when  entering,  for 
the  first  time,  the  suburbs  of  the  great  mart  of  the 
world  towards  nightfall,  he  found  himself  in  the  midst 
of  hundreds  of  vehicles,  rapidly  passing  in  various 
directions,  of  crowds  of  men  and  animals,  the  smoke 
of  innumerable  fires,  the  din  of  a  vast  population ; 
and  then  recalls  the  loneliness  which  chilled  his 
heart  while  carried  along  through  tens  of  thousands 
of  human  beings,  to  whom  he  was  totally  unknown. 
I  found  passing  by  me  chariots  half  hidden  in  vapour, 
whose  wheels  moved  like  the  rapidity  of  machinery, 
where  the  eye  perceives  the  whirling  of  a  circle, 
rather  than  the  circle  itself.  Other  messengers 
appeared  to  be  flying,  and  I  heard  the  fluttering  and 
rustling  of  their  motion,  and  sometimes  was  brushed 
by  a  dank  wing,  in  texture  like  a  bat's.  All  these 
my  conductor  told  me  were  couriers  and  emissaries 
going  and  returning  from  every  country  of  the  earth, 
from  the  North  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the 
West ;  all  were  hieing  to  make  reports  to  their  sove 
reign,  who  remained  ia  perpetual  council  with  his 
legionaries.  The  session  was  eternal  and  the  various 
devices  to  extend  his  power  forever  renewing,  and 
forever  adapting  themselves  to  all  the  changing 
circumstances  of  human  society.  But,  see,  said  my 
guide,  before  you  is  the  palace  of  the  monarch  ! 

I  looked,  but  can  give  no  idea  of  the  edifice,  if 
the  term  can  be  so  applied.  We  were  still  several 
miles  from  it,  and  I  thought  we  were  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  off.  Amazement  so  overpowered 
me,  that  I  have  only  retained  the  impression  of  its 
vastness  and  even  that,  is  vague  and  indefinite.  To 
12 


134  A  VISION. 

compare  it,  in  point  of  size,  with  any  human  struc 
tures  would  be  absurd,  the  Amphitheatre  of  Vespa 
sian,  or  the  Church  of  St.  Peter's,  were  in  compari 
son,  like  the  diminutive  wren-boxes  elevated  on 
poles,  for  tiny  birds  in  our  gardens.  The  walls  were 
like  the  gig-antic  strata  of  the  Andes,  surmounted 
with  domes  and  turrets,  but  what  were  the  materials 
even  in  semblance,  I  could  not  decide.  They  rose 
before  me,  as  the  summit  of  Teneriife  appears  tow 
ering  over  the  blue  expanse  of  the  Atlantic  to  the 
far  distant  mariner;  yet  they  seemed  less  dense 
and  hard  in  their  outline  than  mountains,  but  rather 
like  the  volume  and  vapourish  nature  of  clouds. 
Their  awful  magnificence  was  rendered  more  impos 
ing,  by  a  sudden  flashing  illumination,  that  threw 
over  them  a  flitting,  transitory  glare  giving  an  imper 
fect  glimpse  of  their  design  ;  as  those  lambent  light 
nings  gleaning  vividly  for  a  moment  in  a  dark  sum 
mer's  sky  discover  a  thousand  forms,  and  broken 
masses  of  clouds,  that  at  other  times  appear  a  black 
continuous  surface. 

How  can  I  describe  the  objects,  or  the  dimen 
sions  of  them,  that  met  my  sight  on  reaching  the 
interior !  My  eye  was  dizzied,  and  I  shrunk  back 
with  amazement,  at  the  height  and  space  of  the 
vast  arches,  that  formed  the  ceiling  of  the  huge 
basilick,  into  which  I  was  carried  by  my  demon 
guide.  The  dome  which  Michael  Angelo  suspend 
ed  in  the  air  was  more  diminutive  in  comparison  to 
these,  than  would  be  the  ceiling  of  the  most  diminu 
tive  cupola,  compared  with  the  grandeur  of  St. 
Peters.  The  columns  had  the  size  of  towers,  and 


A  VISION.  135 

rose  beyond  the  first  reach  of  my  aching  sight.  At 
one  extremity  was  the  throne  of  the  monarch,  about 
which  were  coiled  two  vast  serpents,  that  circled  it 
with  horrid  motion  in  opposite  directions,  the  glitter 
and  rustling  of  whose  gigantic  folds  were  equally 
dreadful  to  the  sight  and  hearing.  Before  the 
throne,  in  a  half  circle,  were  his  chief  counsellors 
and  secretaries,  and  from  these,  in  diverging  lines, 
sat  long  rows  of  his  subjects,  like,  so  far  as  great 
things  can  be  like  small  ones,  ranges  of  Sphynxes 
that  form  the  avenues  to  the  most  magnificent  tem 
ple,  of  Egyptian  Thebes.  As  they  were  placed 
in  the  long  vistas,  each  one  gradually  increased  in 
size,  as  the  perspective  advanced,  so  that  the  most 
distant  was  as  large  and  distinct  as  those  nearest  the 
throne.  Four  of  these  ranges,  were  mounted  on 
Griffins,  of  proportionate  size.  As  these  lines  di 
verged  in  the  distance,  there  were  groups  between 
them  of  various  kinds,  which  contained  endless 
thousands  of  assembled  subjects. 

Each  of  these  excited  fear  in  the  beholder,  what 
then  shall  I  call  the  overwhelming  dismay,  when 
the  eye  was  turned  towards  the  sovereign.  I  be 
sought  my  guide  to  screen  me,  as  I  shrunk  behind 
him.  He  replied  only  by  a  disdainful  grimace,  at 
my  requesting  such  an  impossibility.  The  prince 
was  on  a  throne,  which  resembled  in  its  magnifi 
cence  of  form  and  colour,  and  exhibition  of  varying 
hues,  the  most  gorgeous  collection  of  clouds,  that 
are  ever  piled  in  a  western  sky,  on  a  summer's  eve. 
His  form  and  dimensions  were  suited  to  his  dwelling, 
but  of  these  I  could  gain  no  definite  idea:  he  rose 


136  A  VISION. 

and  shrunk,  as  a  marine  object  will  rise  and  subside 
in  the  peculiar  atmosphere,  that  creates  the  fanciful 
distortions  of  looming-.  At  one  time  he  would  be 
nearly  of  the  size  of  those  around  him,  at  others, 
his  figure  would  rise  in  altitude  till  it  towered  in 
all  the  loftiness  of  the  vaulted  ceilings  above  us. 
I  caught  one  glance  only  at  his  countenance,  and 
dared  not  look  again  ;  no  words  can  describe  what 
confounded  all  the  senses  and  the  imagination.  As 
£he  form  was  colossal,  so  the  beauty  had  been  once 
divine ;  even  now  he  was  not  less  than  "  arch 
angel  ruined  :"  but  the  proudest  of  Hell's  monarchs 
had  been  scathed  by  the  lightnings  of  heaven,  and 
where  the  most  radiant  grace,  and  ineffable  comeli 
ness  once  dwelt  in  celestial  emanation,  the  passions 
of  the  demon  were  glaring  with  all  their  immortal 
malignity. 

The  attention  of  the  sovereign  was  unrelenting, 
the  coming  in  and  departure  of  emissaries  incessant. 
They  gave  an  account  of  their  missions,  into  all 
parts  of  the  earth,  and  among  all  the  various  classes 
of  mankind.  Some  of  these  missions  related  to  whole 
communities,  others  to  individuals  only  ;  and  though 
the  reports  were  innumerable,  they  occupied  but  a 
moment  in  the  delivery  ;  yet  I  found  afterwards  what 
seemed  instantaneous,  took  me  a  long  time  to  go 
over  in  the  narration.  I  could  recollect  but  a  small 
part  of  what  I  heard,  among  which  I  select  a  few  as 
specimens.  The  ingenuity  or  the  magnitude  of  the 
mischief  that  had  been  effected  drew  forth  corres 
ponding  plaudits,  and  sometimes  the  vaults  of  their 
aerial  palace  waved  with  the  vibrating  shouts  of  the 
infernal  conclave. 


A  VISION.  13? 

[Here  followed  several  narratives,  of  the  demons 
who  had  entered  into  sovereigns,  statesmen,  women, 
lawyers,  physicians,  divines,  &c.  &c.  and  describing 
the  results  of  their  agency,  but  they  are  too  long 
for  insertion.] 

These  accounts  of  mischief  produced,  and  the  de 
vising  of  future  plans  for  the  ruin  of  mankind,  were 
subject  to  strange  embarrassments  and  accidents,  that 
made  the  authors  of  confusion  themselves  worse 
confounded ;  yet  they  interrupted  only  for  an  instant 
their  eternal  continuance  in  plotting  evil.  At  one 
moment  the  interior  of  this  edifice  was  filled  with  ;i 
wind,  so  piercing,  so  intensely  cold,  that  as  it  passed 
over  the  groups  and  ranges  of  this  prodigious  con 
clave,  it  stiffened  them  at  once  into  immoveability, 
and  they  remained  fixed  in  whatever  posture  they 
chanced  to  be  in.  They  would  be  released  from 
this  durance,  by  a  blast  more  hot  and  suffocating, 
than  the  deadliest  Simoom  of  the  desert.  The  ear 
too  was  tortured,  and  my  mind  appalled  by  the 
most  harsh  and  dreadful  sounds ;  sometimes  it  was  a 
groan,  seeming  to  come  from  assembled  millions  of 
sufferers,  that  began  in  a  low  murmur,  increasing  ic 
agony  and  loudness,  and  finally  bursting  into  a  shriek- 
that  convulsed  the  nerves  and  rent  the  brain. 
At  other  times,  a  vehement,  grating,  malicious, 
sardonic  laugh,  from  an  invisible,  and  innumerable 
chorus,  would  break  out  on  a  sudden,  creating  a 
horror  that  sickened  the  heart.  At  one  period  the 
baseless  fabric,  crumbled  and  sunk,  the  whole  as 
sembled  legions  were  whirled  downwards  into  a. 
vortex,  thousands  of  fathoms  deep,  and  then  hurled 
12  * 


138  A  VISION. 

back  again,  as  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  stones., 
fire  and  water,  are  ejected  above  the  summit  of  a 
volcano.  Every  one  however  resumed  his  place, 
and  even  these  dreadful  interruptions  caused  no 
cessation  of  the  everlasting  perpetration  of  evil. 

It  was  after  one  of  these  tremendous  concus 
sions,  followed  by  our  being  precipitated  with  ac 
celerated  violence,  into  the  bottomless  abyss,  that  I 
thought  myself  abandoned  by  my  guide,  and  falling 
to  the  earth,  with  a  panick  apprehension  of  being 
dashed  to  pieces,  exactly  similar  to  the  feeling  that 
startles  us,  when  we  dream  of  falling.  When  the 
shock  was  over,  I  soon  realized,  that  I  was  safely 
on  the  earth  ;  the  objects  around  shewed  that  I  had 
alighted  on  the  precise  spot  I  had  left,  but  I  felt 
for  sometime  in  a  painful  state  of  confusion.  I  found 
my  book  by  my  side,  and  a  branch  of  the  walnut 
tree,  torn  off  by  the  wind,  laying  near  me.  I  had  a 
slight  contusion  on  my  temple,  that  gave  me  some 
pain,  and  I  returned  home  absorbed  in  meditation 
and  doubt.  When  a  relation  of  these  circumstances 
was  afterwards  made  to  my  friends,  they  said  that 
the  falling  branch,  must  have  struck  my  head,  and 
stunned  me  :  that  the  functions  of  the  brain,  had 
been  left,  as  they  are  in  sleep,  that  I  had  been 
thrown  into  a  kind  of  trance,  in  which  the  excite 
ment  of  what  I  had  been  reading  had  led  to  this 
train  of  visionary  extravagance.  I  did  not  care  to 
dispute  with  them,  as  to  the  correctness  of  their 
opinion,  of  what  had  befallen  me ;  but  the  impres 
sions  were  too  vividly,  and  deeply  engraved  on  my 
mind  to  satisfy  me,  that  their  explanation  was  well 
founded. 


A  BALLAD. 


LUCUP  a  non  lucendo. 


ONE  bright  and  genial  morning  towards  the  close 
of  the  last  spring,  I  strolled  forth  on  a  desultory 
walk.  It  was  one  of  the  few  fine  days  with  which 
we  are  favoured  in  this  season,  that  is  here  so  ca 
pricious.  A  fine  sky,  a  caressing  breeze  from  the 
southwest,  and  a  plastic  temperature,  produced  a 
half  voluptuous  feeling  of  enjoyment,  making  exis 
tence  in  the  abstract,  a  source  of  delight.  I  found 
myself  beyond  the  limits  of  the  pavement,  without 
any  particular  object,  when  it  occurred  to  me,  that 
only  a  few  miles  would  be  added  to  the  walk,  by 
visiting  the  spot  where  I  had  passed  my  infancy  ;  I 
determined  at  once  on  that  direction,  and  allowed 
my  mind  to  wander  into  reveries  of  recollection.  It 
was  the  youth  of  the  year  and  naturally  associated 
with  my  thoughts.  Nature  wore  a  very  bland  as 
pect,  the  apple-buds  of  innumerable  orchards  were 
beginning  to  expand  in  full  flower  ;  though  a  chilling 
change  might  a  few  days  afterwards  cut  them  off,  as 
the  opening,  confiding  expectations  of  childhood 
are  blasted  in  the  subsequent  frowns  of  a  world, 


140  A  BALLAD. 

whose  smiles  at  a  distance  are  so  enticing,  and  so  de 
ceptive. 

Thus  occupied  in  musing  on  the  past,  I  came  to  a 
lane  that  led  in  a  sinuous  course  of  half  a  mile  to 
the  dwelling,  where  I  passed  two  years  of  blissful 
childhood,  under  the  care  of  a  fond,  indulgent  grand 
mother,  the  most  kind  hearted  and  benevolent  of 
human  beings.  My  only  companion  was  a  handsome 
spaniel,  as  playful  and  unrestrained  as  myself,  and 
who  never  objected  when  we  returned  from  our 
daily  morning  and  afternoon's  excursion  of  a  sum 
mer's  day,  to  my  allegation,  that  the  pickle  I  was 
in  from  our  play  in  the  brook  together,  which  ren 
dered  a  fresh  frock  necessary,  was  all  owing  to 
Yorick,  who  shared  my  meals,  as  he  did  my  sports. 
Through  this  lane  I  had  often  galloped  on  a  willow 
stick  for  a  horse,  and  in  my  childish  fancy  believed 
my  own  vaulting,  was  the  restive  prancing  of  the 
wooden  Pegasus  1  bestrode. 

I  sought  for  all  the  objects  that  had  left  an  impres 
sion  on  my  memory,  yet  few  remained  as  they  once 
were.  The  projecting  angles  of  dark  grey,  totter 
ing  stonewalls,  that  my  imagination  while  hurrying 
home  in  the  receding  twilight,  had  often  converted 
into  fearful,  portentous  shapes,  were  all  replaced  by 
straight,  neat,  whitewashed  fences;  and  here  and 
there  an  upstart  poplar  stood  in  the  place  of  some 
venerable  apple,  or  umbrageous  forest  tree.  Each 
side  of  the  road  was  now  dotted  with  modern  country 
houses  and  trim  gardens,  where  had  formerly  been 
wild  pastures  or  irregular  orchards.  This  marked  a 
state  of  flourishing  increase,  which  more  than  com 
pensated  for  the  wild  but  pleasing  scenery  it 


A  BALLAD.  141 

ed ;  yet  it  brought  to  my  mind  a  wish  I  have  often 
felt,  that  our  village  reformers  in  improving  their 
roads,  could  be  convinced,  that  for  the  sake  of  short 
ening  a  few  yards  of  the  highway,  it  is  not  worth 
while  to  cut  down  a  venerable  elm,  or  oak,  that  was 
growing  before  they  could  tell  where  their  ances 
tors  existed ;  and  that  to  plant  poplars  in  their  place, 
is  like  ousting  a  venerable  patriot  from  the  service 
of  his  country,  to  put  in  his  stead  a  modern  dandy. 

The  reader  must  here  recollect  that  I  am  not  tell 
ing  a  regular  story,  but  only  following  the  deviations 
of  my  thoughts  as  they  occurred  in  the  progress  of 
an  idle  walk ;  and  if  he  grows  tired  of  it  sooner  than 
I  did,  he  has  the  advantage  of  me,  and  can  break  off 
without  going  over  all  the  ground  I  traversed.  I 
must  protest  too  against  conjuring  up  an  idea  of  my 
age  being  very  advanced,  from  all  these  changes  hav 
ing  occurred.  I  have  my  reasons  which  I  will  not 
enumerate,  for  not  wishing  to  be  considered  too 
old,  and  candid  minds  will  recollect  how  very  rapid 
all  these  alterations  have  been  in  this  vicinity.  Since 
I  have  alluded  to  the  subject,  I  must  say  with  the 
French  lady  who  answered  that  singularly  imperti 
nent  question  in  the  forms  of  French  judicial  pro 
ceeding,  "  what  is  your  age  ?" — that,  "  I  am  of  no 
particular  age."  Chronology  is  a  very  tedious,  un 
satisfactory  science,  and  I  have  often  wondered 
that  the  great  Newton  should  have  prostrated  his 
sublime  faculties  to  writing  a  laborious  work  on 
dates,  with  as  much  ardour  as  a  malicious  spinster,  or 
a  waning  bachelor,  investigate  the  eras  of  all  their 
acquaintances :  it  is  a  vexatious,  unprofitable  study, 


142  A  BALLAD. 

and  often  annoys  inoffensive  people,  who  wish  to  es 
cape  observation. 

To  return,  I  had  advanced  through  more  than  half 
the  length  of  the  lane,  where  nothing  on  either  side 
remained  as  it  was,  when  I  came  to  a  spot,  where  I 
could  exclaim  as  Adam  did,  on  his  visit  to  Spain  ; 
"  Ah,  every  thing  here,  is  just  as  I  left  it."  The 
road  bent  in  an  easy  curve,  between  a  meadow,  and 
a  gentle  elevation,  almost  as  round  as  an  inverted 
bowl.  A  small  brook  crossed  the  way,  whose  dimin 
utive  stream  at  this  season  indicated,  that  it  might 
be  passed  dry-shod  before  the  autumnal  equinox. 
On  the  top  of  the  hillock  a  house  whose  clapboards 
had  never  been  disguised  with  paint,  and  in  some 
spots  had  left  the  boards  beneath  without  a  cover 
ing,  exhibited  as  many  marks  of  auld  lang  s-yne  as  the 
perishable  nature  of  wooden  buildings  will  permit. 
The  fence  which  inclosed  its  territory  was  composed 
in  various  proportions  of  mossy  stones,  weather  bea 
ten  rails  and  berberry  bushes,  furnishing  more 
studies  of  the  picturesque  to  a  painter,  than  could  be 
collected  from  all  the  spruce  palings  of  a  county. 
A  small  dell  lay  at  the  edge  of  the  mound,  on  which 
the  house  stood,  and  to  which  it  corresponded  so 
nearly,  that  if  inverted  into  it,  the  space  would  be 
filled  and  the  whole  spot  nearly  levelled.  A  pool  of 
water,  fringed  in  part  with  quince  trees,  stood  in  the 
bottom,  and  which  must  shrink  entirely  away  in  a 
dry  summer.  Its  surface  was  now  almost  grown  over 
with  various  aquatic  plants,  and  one  or  two  rails  that 
the  children  had  thrown  in  to  get  at  these,  were  cov 
ered  with  small,  golden-spotted  tortoises,  basking  in 
the  sun  io  rows,  as  idly  as  so  many  Spaniards  under 


A  BALLAD.  143 

a  wall.  From  this  rustic  dwelling,  partial  views  of 
the  town,  its  harbour  and  islands  could  be  seen, 
as  from  most  of  the  rising  grounds,  that  are  strewed 
throughout  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

I  had  been  leaning  for  some  time  on  a  rail  looking 
at  these  little  terrapins,  who  were  eyeing  me  in  turn, 
ready  to  slip  into  the  water  on  the   first  suspicious 
movement  I  should  make,  till  I  was  in  a  torpid  kind 
of  reverie,  not  very  far  removed  from  their  own 
state  of  existence.     Some  lively  voices  behind  me, 
turned   my  attention  to  a  woman  and  a  small  boy, 
who  were  visiting  a  trap  cage  for  birds  under  an  old 
apple  tree  in  the  field  opposite.     I  moved  towards 
them  as  they  crossed  the  road  to  return  to  the  house, 
and  accosted  her,  when  the  following  dialogue  took 
place  between  us.     u  What  luck  do  you  have  ma'am 
in  catching  birds  ? — Do  you  want  to  get  a  bird,  sir  ? 
— O  no  1  have  no  place  to  keep  it,  and  I  hate  to  see 
them  shut  up  in  cages. — O  sir,  they  dont  mind  it  a 
bit,  they  are  used  to  it. — There  seem  to  be  a  number 
of  new  houses  in  this  neighbourhood  ? — O  yes,  some 
very  grand  and  some    droll  shaped   ones.     I  guess 
you're  a   stranger  like  in  these   parts,  do  you  want 
to    find   any  body's   house  ?    No  ma'am,  I  am  only 
'walking  for  amusement — but  I  am  not  such  a  stran 
ger  as  you  think,  I  know  every  old   tree   and    old 
fence  about  us,  I  lived  a  number  of  years  near  here. 
— Well  you  don't  look  like  it,  I  wonder  when  it  was  ? 
— A  long  time  ago. — Did  you   know   many    of  the 
folks  hereabout,  did  you  ever  see  me  before  ?  For 
merly  I  knew  every  body,  and  I  may  have  seen  you 
when  a  child,  I  have  been  in  that  house  sometimes. 
Why  that's  my  house,  and  I  should  like  to  have  you 


144  A  BALLAD. 

come  in  again  if  you've  a  mind,  I  wish  I  knew  your 
name/'  That  wish  was  gratified  immediately,  and  I 
proceeded  willingly  up  to  the  house,  suspecting  that  I 
had  hit  upon  a  person  who  was  what  the  mineralogists 
would  call  a  good  specimen,  strongly  characterized. 
She  proved  to  be  inquisitive,  open  hearted,  imperti 
nent,  good  natured,  very  curious  respecting  all  the 
particulars  that  came  in  her  way,  and  very  reckless 
about  the  world  at  large,  and  all  generalities. 

After  entering  a  room  with  a  wainscot  embrowned 
by  time,  and  walls  somewhat  darkened  by  smoke,  and 
whose  floor  was  rendered  rather  uneven  by4he  set 
tling  6f  the  beams,  but  looked  as  clean  as  frequent 
scouring  could  make  it;  I  seated  myself  comforta 
bly  in  a  straw  bottomed  chair,  which  my  hostess  of 
fered.  To  get  the  start  of  questions,  that  I  saw 
were  filling  her  mouth,  and  to  give  her  an  idea  of 
my  knowledge  of  the  place,  concerning  which  she 
had  shewn  a  little  incredulity  ;  I  began  by  asking 
her  after  a  family,  that  was  one  of  renown  in  the 
early  history  of  this  country,  and  that  bore  an  old 
English  name,  coeval  with  the  times  of  Cedric  and 
Gurth,  and  Rowena  ;  and  which  had  recently  be 
come  extinct,  in  an  old  maid  and  old  bachelor,  broth 
er  and  sister,  who  in  humbled  circumstances  discov 
ered  a  strong  raciness  of  their  origin,  lived  humour 
ists  and  died  philosophers.  I  inquired  if  she  had 

u  ever  known  old  Mr.  and  Mrs. ?" — u  Did  you 

know  them?" — "  That  was  my  question,  but  no  mat 
ter,  I  did  know  them  very  well." — "  Why  how 
come  you  to  know  them,  well  I  guess  you  were  ac 
quainted  hereabouts,  but  do  for  mercy's  sake  tell  me 
how  you  knew  the  old  folks,  and  they've  been 


A  BALLAD.  145 

dead  so  long." — ;;  I  knew  it  would  be  a  mercy  to  her 
to  satisfy  her  curiosity,  and  therefore  told  how  the 
acquaintance  arose.  I  explained  to  her  that  I  used 
to  gallop  over  on  my  willow  horse,  to  the  cottage 
of  the  old  people,  and  after  busying  myself  some 
time  in  putting  the  heap  of  fuel  tan  standing  near 
their  door  in  various  shapes,  that  my  visit  finished 
by  their  giving  me  some  delicious  brown  bread  and 
butter,  of  which  I  had  not  forgotten  the  taste. 

This  little  historical  trait  served  a  very  good  pur 
pose  :  she  at  once  asked,  "  why  do  you  like  brown 
bread  ?" — I  paid  her  in  her  own  coin,  by  replying 
"  Do  you  think  I  don't  ?"— "  Lord  love  you,  you 
shall  have  some  as  good  bread  and  sweet  butter  as 

ever  old  Mrs. gave  you." — She  immediately  set 

about  it ;  a  small  pine  table,  almost  as  white  and  quite 
as  clean  as  new  fallen  snow,  was  placed  before  me, 
and  a  loaf  of  black  bread,  that  would  have  excited 
rather  envy  than  pity  for  the  Spartans  if  theirs  had 
been  the  same,  a  slice  of  butter  that  might  almost 
vie  with  that  of  Prevalet,*  and  a  black  glazed  pitch 
er  of  earthen  ware  filled  with  the  coldest  and  purest 
water  that  bubbled  up  beneath  a  moss  grown  rock,  a 
few  yards  from  the  dwelling,  furnished  very  inviting 
fare. 

*  As  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  owing  to  the  choice  of  "their 
country  brethren,"  eat  more  bad  butter  than  any  other  popula 
tion  of  the  same  extent  in  the  world,  it  may  be  of  some  use  to 
know  where  is  the  other  extreme.  The  butter  in  France  is  al 
ways  excellent,  and  that  of  Prevalet  is  particularly  celebrated 
for  its  exquisite  flavour. 

13 


146  A  BALLAD. 

My  entertainer  had  been  called  away  two  or  three 
minutes,  when  a  female  entered  the  room  not  know 
ing   a  stranger    was    there,    in   whose   whole    ap 
pearance  though  not  without  dignity,  there  was  so 
much  plainness,  as  to  discourage   attention  at  first ; 
yet  it  grew  keener  every  moment  she  was  examined. 
She  was  verging  towards  the  middle  age  and  cloth 
ed  in  mourning,  that  seemed  not  the  dress   of  fash 
ion,  but  the  very  hue  of  her  soul.     Her  face  without 
any  very  striking  feature,  indicated  an  ardent,  gen 
erous  character,  subdued  into  a  superficial  calmness, 
where  anguish  and   apprehension  lay  covered  as  it 
were,  but  not  concealed,  by  the  thin  veil  of  her  fair 
transparent  complexion.     On  her  entering  I  address 
ed  her  with  courtesy  and  respect,  and  tried  by  ex 
pressing    a   regret  at  my  intrusion  to    prevent  her 
obvious  intention  of  retiring.     I  do  not  know  how  it 
would  have  ended,  if  the  bird-catching,  question-ask 
ing  mistress  of  the   house   had  not  at  that  moment 
come  back,  and  saying, — "  O  ma'am,  I  am  glad  you 
have  come  in,  do  stay,  and  sit  down,  and  talk  a  little, 
it  will  raise  your  spirits  ;  I  was  just  giving  this  gen 
tleman  some  bread  and  butter,  for  the  sake  of  old 
times,  and  we  have   been  talking   about  things  that 
happened  long  ago,  and  people  that  were  old  when 
he  was  a  child."     She  sat  down,  and  I  fancied  that  it 
was  the  idea  of  talking  of  the  past  that  induced  her  to 
remain,  like  a  person  to  whom  the  present  is  pain 
ful  and  the  future  hopeless,  and  whose  only  solace  is 
in  the  melancholy  of  retrospect.    Inquiring  of  Miss 
Margaret  "  have  you  seen  my  work,"  she  received 
the  answer  of  inveterate  habit,  "  do  you  want  it  ?'? 
—There  it  is  in  the  corner,  "  I  will  get  it  myself." 


A  BALLAD.  Hi- 

She  had  just  seated  herself,  and  taken  her  needle, 
when  our  party  received  an  accession,  by  a  person 
who  seemed  to  be  a  familiar  guest,  having  first  ask 
ed  kindly  of  the  mourner  after  her  health,  he  then 
addressed  the  other  female — "  Aunt  Meggy,  I  must 
have  a  cut  at  your  bread  and  butter." — "  Yes,  I 
guessed  you'd  finish  it,  as  soon  as  I  saw  you — but 
let  me  ask  you  one  question  first  ;  where  have  you 
been,  where  do  you  come  from,  and  where  are  you 
going? — Though  these  questions  were  asked  with 
considerable  fluency,  he  had  in  the  mean  time  prepar 
ed  a  thick  slice  of  bread  with  a  suitable  covering,  then 
proceeded  to  dispatch  a  mouthful  and  a  question  al 
ternately. — "Begging your  pardon,  Aunty,  you  have 
slipped  three  questions  into  one,  but  I'll  answer 
them  all — I  have  been  to  Boston — 1  come  now  from 
home — I  am  going  to  Milton/'  "  Going  to  Milton  ! 
come  do  tell  what  you  are  going  to  Milton  for  ?" — 
"  I  am  going  to  see  the  river,  I  hear  there  is  a  great 
change  in  it."  "  Change  !  what  sort  of  change  ?" 
"  Why  it  is  much  wetter  than  it  was."  "  Wetter  ! 
how  can  that  be  ?"  "  Owing  to  the  late  rains  I  sup 
pose,  they  said  it  was  quite  dry  last  week,  but  it  has 
much  changed  since  the  last  rain,  which  I  guess  must 
have  moistened  it."  u  Ah  this  is  your  college  wit, 
mighty  fine  no  doubt."  "  O  no  nothing  more  than  a 
very  slight  lusus  verborum  as  we  used  to  say  at  Cam 
bridge.  But  my  Aunt  Inquisitive,  if  your  bread  was 
not  so  good,  I  should  say  that  you  were  very  ungrate 
ful  to  abuse  me,  when  1  do  every  thing  I  can  to  sa 
tisfy  your  curiosity,  but  you  will  choke  me  with  so 
many  questions."  "  Did  ever  one  hear  the  like  ? 
have  I  asked  any  questions  ?  I  am  afraid  you'll  choke 


148  A  BALLAD. 

yourself  with  such  great  lumps  of  bread  that  you  cram 
into  your  mouth."  While  this  person  who  had  offered 
me  a  slight  salute  on  entering,  was  undergoing  these 
interrogatories  and  demolishing  what  my  appetite  had 
spared,  I  had  taken  a  cursory  survey  of  his  person. 
This  was  rather  short  and  thick  set,  or  what  our  far 
mers  call  stocky,  with  legs  whose  shape  had  that  sub 
stantial  outline,  which  some  physiologists  have  said, 
indicated  both  stubbornness  of  character,  and  the 
want  of  imagination.  He  had  on  a  drab  coloured  hat 
covering  a  head  of  red  hair,  and  his  complexion  was 
of  a  shade  between  the  two,  so  that  had  it  not  been 
for  a  pair  of  sharp  grey  eyes,  and  a  little  heightening 
of  the  colour  about  the  nose,  chin  and  ears,  like  the 
blush  on  a  russetine  apple,  it  would  have  been  diffi 
cult  to  have  selected  the  face,  at  a  short  distance, 
nmong  the  mass  which  rose  above  his  shoulders. 

The  loaf  and  its  accompaniment  had  nearly  van 
ished  under  the  energies,  of  the  pseudo-nephew, 
when  a  little  girl,  about  seven  years  old,  with  a 
lively  and  interesting  countenance,  came  running 
up  from  the  brook  below,  and  holding  in  her  hand 
a  miniature  mimic  vessel,  made  from  a  shingle,  a 
few  rags,  and  bits  of  ribbons.  The  lady  was  sitting 
in  a  position,  turned  from  the  door,  so  that  she  did 
not  perceive  the  child,  before  she  had  sprang  up  to 
iier,  and  in  a  breathless  tone,  of  infantile  extasy 
exclaimed ;  "  Look  dear  Mama,  what  a  beautiful 
ship,  a  boy  has  given  me." — She  instantly  seized  and 
crushed,  as  it  were  instinctively,  the  rude  toy,  and 
giving  the  child  a  look  of  intense  pity  and  tender 
ness,  her  countenance  became  too  convulsed  for 


A  BALLAD.  149 

utterance,  and  in  a  hurried  manner,  she  led  her  out 
of  the  room. 

"  Dear,  unhappy  creature  !"  exclaimed  one,  "  un 
fortunate  woman !"  said  the  other  of  my  com 
panions.  Not  knowing  what  to  think  of  this  unex 
pected  scene,  which  passed  so  suddenly,  I  was  in  a 
sort  of  painful  wonder,  when  the  person  with  the 
drab  coloured  hat,  after  a  slight  hesitation,  addressed 
me  by  name,  and  telling  me  his  own,  I  soon  made 
out  that  we  were  contemporaries,  during  a  part  of 
our  college  life.  There  was  a  kind  of  mutual  feel 
ing,  to  avoid  for  a  moment,  an  explanation  of  the 
circumstance,  that  had  just  taken  place,  and  he  be 
gan  by  giving  a  brief  account  of  himself,  aided  oc 
casionally  by  a  hint,  in  the  form  of  question,  from 
his  nominal  aunt.  By  this  it  appeared,  that  after 
trying  two  or  three  different  schemes,  without 
much  success,  he  had  made  use  of  what  he  had  ac 
quired,  to  teach  others  ;  that  in  short,  he  had  been 
a  pedagogue,  for  a  few  years,  and  having  at  the 
same  time  employed  his  surplus  gains,  with  success, 
in  some  trading  transactions,  he  had  recently  retired 
to  a  dignified  idleness,  on  a  splendid  indepen 
dence  of  six  hundred  dollars  a  year. 

After  he  had  given  an  account  of  himself,  which 
I  have  here  abbreviated,  I  turned  the  conversation 
to  the  lady,  who  had  just  left  the  room,  in  such 
strong  emotion,  and  asked  for  some  explanation. 
Aunt  Margaret  listened  in  a  kind  of  sympathy,  that 
shewed  good  feelings,  yet  at  the  same  time,  a 
cautious  attention,  though  she  knew  the  story  well, 
but  with  the  chance  of  picking  up  some  new  details. 
13* 


150  A  BALLAD. 

He  first  brought  to  my  recollection,  an  old  college 
acquaintance,  who  was  a  brother  of  this  lady,  and 
one  of  the  objects  she  lamented  ;  and  without  pre 
tending  to  give  his  words  precisely,  the  following 
were  the  outlines  of  his  narration. 

Mrs.  A — belongs  to  a  populous  town,  in  the  County 
of  Essex,  and  has  been  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the 
victim  of  modern  buccaneering,  regular  and  irregu 
lar.  Her  father  in  the  outset  of  life,  had  been  en 
gaged  in  a  considerable  commerce,  with  one  of  the 
ports  of  Spain  ;  and  in  the  prosecution  of  his  affairs, 
went  to  visit  his  correspondents.  With  a  high  con 
fidence  in  his  abilities  and  integrity,  they  made  him 
proposals,  to  enter  into  some  extensive  transactions, 
that  would  render  necessary  a  long  residence  in 
South  America.  He  engaged  in  it,  came  home  and 
transported  his  family  to  his  new  residence.  Here 
he  passed  several  years,  in  a  prosperous  course. 
He  had  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  the  latter, 
of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  born  in  this  country, 
the  other  in  South  America-  As  these  children, 
grew  up,  a  solicitude  for  their  health,  and  for  an 
education,  which  he  could  not  give  them  where  he 
was,  led  him  to  send  them  over  to  their  friends  here, 
hoping  to  follow  them  in  a  year  or  two.  But  to  the 
accumulating  colonist,  to  the  unhappy  exile,  who  is 
seeking  fortune  in  a  foreign  land,  only  to  return 
with  its  fruits  to  enjoy  his  own,  to-morrow  emphati 
cally,  never  comes !  He  lingers  on,  thwarted  by 
disappointments,  or  lured  by  avarice,  till  death  over 
takes  him,  and  his  ashes  mingle  with  a  foreign  soil  ; 
or  if  he  does  return,  'tis  with  emaciated  health,  and 
broken  recollections ;  the  friends  of  his  youth  taken 


A  BALLAD.  151 

away,  and  the  scenes  of  early  enjoyment  altered 
and  gone.  After  some  years  of  protracted  anxiety, 
the  parents  saw  the  joyful  moment  arrive,  when 
they  could  embark  on  their  return,  and  soon  hope 
to  embrace  those  dear  children,  of  whose  charac 
ters  and  progress  they  had  received  the  most  flat 
tering  relations.  The  honourable  gains  of  many 
years  of  exile  were  converted  into  specie,  and 
taken  with  them  on  board  the  Spanish  Frigates 
which  sailed  for  Europe  in  the  year  1805.  Spain 
was  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  passengers,  with  the  long  savings  of  many  a 
tedious  year  of  absence,  were  anticipating  in  each 
day's  progress  o'er  the  wave,  that  they  were  ap 
proaching  nearer  to  the  country,  and  the  friends  of 
their  youth.  Vain  expectation  ! — These  frigates 
conveyed  an  immense  treasure,  the  enemy  sailing 
from  port,  under  the  mask  of  peace,  were  hovering 
in  their  path.  Unprepared  and  unsuspicious  on  one 
side,  a  conflict  ensued.  That  the  amount  of  prize 
money,  might  be  greater  to  some  favourite  officers, 
a  force  was  sent,  only  sufficient  to  make  sure  of  the 
capture,  but  not  so  large  as  to  prevent  a  contest,  by 
its  superiority.  In  the  battle  some  of  these  inno 
cent  passengers  fell  among  the  other  victims,  and 
lost  both  life  and  property.  Among  them  was  the 
father  of  this  lady ;  her  mother  died,  soon  after 
reaching  the  shore,  of  fright,  of  grief,  of  a  broken 
heart, — and  her  children  were  left  doubly  orphans. 
This  action  sounded  highly  in  the  Gazette,  the 
droits  of  Admiralty,  swelled  for  a  time  to  all  the  in 
satiable  wants  of  profligacy,  the  captors  counted 
over  the  amount  of  their  prize  money,  and  sordid 


152  A  BALLAD. 

politicians  chuckled,  at  a  preventive  triumph  over 
Buonaparte. 

The  loss  of  a  father  and  mother,  whom  she  had 
been  looking  forward  to  embrace  with  ardour,  for  so 
many  years,  sunk  deeply  and  corrodingly,  into  the 
delicate  frame  of  their  daughter.  Her  brother  after 
leaving  the  University,  entered  into  commerce,  and 
after  marrying  a  lovely  woman,  resolved  to  go  to 
the  same  province,  his  unfortunate  parents  had 
lived  in,  to  recover  some  property  they  had  left,  and 
carry  on  the  same  kind  of  commerce,  which  his 
fathers  friends  urged  him  to  undertake.  His  sister 
parted  from  him  with  gloomy,  tremulous  forebod 
ings.  This  little  girl,  whom  I  had  seen,  was  his 
only  child.  She  had  been  sent  two  or  three  years 
since  to  the  care  of  this  lady,  her  parents  intending 
to  return  in  a  year  or  two.  They  embarked  with 
his  valuable  property  in  a  foreign  vessel,  and  noth 
ing  more  was  ever  heard  of  them.  This  unfortu 
nate  ship  fell  in  with  one  of  our  "  patriot"  priva 
teers,  who  pillaged  and  destroyed  the  vessel,  and 
murdered  the  passsengers  and  crew,  that  no  tales 
might  be  told.  It  is  said  that  some  of  the  connec 
tions  of  these  "  patriots"  have  been  seen  decorated 
with  jewels  that  belonged  to  the  wretched  lady,  and 
the  property  plundered  has  served  to  enlarge  the 
career  of  profligacy  and  crime.  This  little  orphan, 
has  been  taught  by  her  aunt  to  call  her  mother, 
and  she  clings  to  her,  as  the  last  relic  of  her 
wretched  family.  Her  friends  advised  her  to  seek 
for  a  time  a  retreat  in  this  cottage,  to  change  the 
scene,  the  owner  of  which  was  long  known  to  the 
family.  When  this  poor  child  came  running  into 


A  BALLAD.  153 

Uer,  with  that  mimic  ship,  this  fatal  object  in  her 
hands,  too  young  to  know  the  horrors,  that  had  de 
stroyed  two  generations  of  her  family,  gave  her 
that  convulsive  movement  of  anguish,  which  pro 
duced  the  effect  you  witnessed. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  this  brief  narrative 
of  accumulated  misfortune,  which  was  accompanied 
with  occasional  comments  and  tears  of  the  good- 
hearted  hostess,  the  lady  herself,  having  recovered 
a  degree  of  composure,  and  sent  the  child  to  play, 
re-entered  the  room.  I  began  immediately  to  speak 
of  her  brother,  for  whom  I  had  felt  a  great  esteem 
at  College,  and  though  the  mention  of  him  again 
produced  a  violent  emotion,  I  continued  without 
seeming  to  observe  it,  to  speak  of  him,  that  she 
might  struggle  to  overcome  it,  and  join  in  the  con 
versation.  She  gradually  acquired  firmness  enough 
to  do  so ;  and  after  a  while  this  accidental  meeting 
with  a  stranger  who  had  known  one  so  dear  to  her, 
seemed  to  afford  a  melancholy  pleasure,  and  to 
produce  a  soothing  effect.  The  settled,  incurable 
grief,  which  was  evidently  fixed  in  this  interesting 
woman,  made  me  prolong  an  interview,  that  chance 
had  brought  about,  in  the  hope  that  a  conversation 
which  seemed  no  longer  irksome,  might  give  a 
momentary  diversion  from  her  sorrows.  I  began 
to  speak  of  some  of  the  superstitious  tales  that  may 
still  be  heard  occasionally  in  Essex,  where  they  once 
were  so  numerous  and  had  so  many  believers  j  but 
which  modern  incredulity  and  ridicule  have  so  suc 
cessfully  combated,  that  the  few  who  yet  cherish 
them  are  very  shy  of  talking  on  the  subject.  She 
deplored  the  infatuation,  which  in  the  early  ages  of 


154  A  BALLAD. 

the  Colony  had  propagated  the  belief  of  witchcraft, 
and  led  to  the  death  of  some  poor  wretches  ;  but 
the  only  excuse  was,  that  the  same  unhappy  conta 
gious  spirit  prevailed  in  other  places  and  in  other 
countries,  during  the  same  and  even  at  a  later  period. 
Among  the  stories  that  were  alluded  to,  was  the 
legend  of  the  Screeching  Lady  of  Marblchead,  which 
I  found  she  did  not  wholly  disbelieve  ;  at  least  she 
thought  it  strange,  that  so  many  persons  should  have 
heard  those  dreadful  sounds,  at  different  times  and 
remote  periods.  She  told  me  she  had  a  collection 
of  three  or  four  stories  of  this  kind,  and  this  was 
among  them,  and  if  I  wished  it,  she  would  give  it 
to  me.  Assuring  her  it  would  be  a  gratification  to 
me,  she  went  to  her  room  to  get  it. 

I  took  advantage  of  the  moment  to  speak  with  the 
mistress  of  the  cottage,  in  behalf  of  this  afflicted 
lady.  "  Poor,  dear  creature,"  said  she,  "  I  would 
do  any  thing  for  her,  she  is  so  kind,  and  so  heart 
broken  ;  but  I  don't  know  what  to  do,  she  never 
asks  any  questions,  and  it  does'nt  seem  natural  some 
how  not  to  ask  questions." — "  Yes,  but  you  ask 
questions  enough  for  both." — "  Perhaps  I  do,  but 
I  love  to  give  and  take,  1  like  to  ask  and  be  asked." 
— "  Well,  she  is  so  unhappy,  you  must  excuse  it." — 
"  O  that  I  will,  and  it's  more  for  her  sake  than  mine, 
that  I  want  her  to  talk  and  inquire  about  things, 
it  would  divert  her  mind." — Preparing  to  depart, 
I  offered  some  remuneration  for  my  collation,  but  it 
was  positively  refused.  The  lady  returned  and 
handed  me  the  manuscript,  I  asked  leave  to  repeat 
my  visit,  and  wished  her  a  good  day. 


A  BALLAD.  155 

'I  turned  my  steps  homewards,  the  rose-coloured 
tinge  which  had  covered  the  recollections  of  infancy, 
at  the  first  part  of  my  walk,  were  now  changed,  and 
a  sombre  hue  given  to  my  thoughts  by  a  contem 
plation  of  the  sad  calamities  of  life.  The  following 
copy  of  verses,  contains  the  particular  legend  before 
mentioned  ;  and  if  this  long  introduction  to  them  is 
like  the  thick,  double  coverings  that  envelope  our 
favourite  hiccory-nuts,  I  hope  the  lines  may  prove 
as  sweet  as  the  kernel,  which  is  thus  carefully  pro 
tected. 

Postscript.  The  motto  prefixed  to  this  narrative 
was  adopted  as  appropriate,  after  being  disappointed 
in  not  receiving  the  ballad  from  a  hand  from  which 
I  had  hoped  for  it,  and  feeling  unwilling  to  attempt 
supplying  the  deficiency  myself.  The  substance  of 
the  legend  is  here  subjoined,  not  in  the  words  of  the 
manuscript  received  from  the  lady  ;  but  more  nearly 
to  an  abbreviation  of  it,  as  given  by  a  distinguished 
individual  in  a  conversation  which  occurred  in  a 
small  party,  on  the  subject  of  the  superstitious  stories 
that  are  told  in  the  County  of  Essex ;  and  which  are 
almost  as  numerous,  as  those  of  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  that  have  furnished  so  many  materials  for 
poetry  and  romance,  to  the  writers  of  that  country. 
As  our  legends  of  superstitious  times  are  now  fast 
falling  into  oblivion,  it  would  be  an  amusing  and 
perhaps  a  useful  task,  for  some  person  in  that  Coun 
ty  to  collect  and  embody  them,  either  in  prose  or 
poetry.  The  mere  marvellous  part  of  such  tales  is 
idle  enough  ;  but  they  always  have  some  illustrative 


156  A  BALLAfc. 

connexion  with  history,  or  manners  of  the  people, 
and  give  a  forcible  interest  to  local  associations. 

—  It  was  during  the  period  when  the  Buccaneers  of 
the  17th  century,  were  ravaging  the  commerce  of 
Spain,  that  a  vessel  of  that  nation  was  captured  by 
them  and  brought  into  the  port  of  Marblehead,  which 
then  contained  only  some  scattered  cottages  of  a  few 
fishermen.  To  secure  more  effectually  the  plunder 
of  their  rich  prize,  they  murdered  the  crew.  There 
was  on  board  the  vessel  an  English  lady,  whom  these 
ruffians  carried  into  a  narrow  valley,  or  glen,  back 
of  the  present  town  of  Marblehead,  and  there  bar 
barously  murdered  her.  The  few  fishermen  who 
inhabited  the  place  were  absent,  and  the  women  and 
children  who  remained,  could  do  nothing  to  prevent 
the  crime.  The  screams  of  the  wretched  victim 
were  loud  and  dreadful,  and  some  of  the  exclama 
tions,  O  mercy  !  mercy  !  Lord  Jesus  Christ  save  me  ! 
were  distinctly  heard.  Her  body  was  buried  where 
the  crime  was  perpetrated,  and  to  this  day  these 
screams  are  occasionally  repeated  ;  sometimes  every 
year,  sometimes  an  interval  of  two  or  three  years 
will  intervene.  When  these  screams  have  been 
heard,  it  is  always  in  a  sound  so  superhuman,  and 
superlatively  dreadful,  that  the  horror  is  indescriba 
ble.  A  diligent  search  has  been  immediately  made 
after  their  recurrence,  but  no  trace  of  any  person 
attempting  to  play  off  a  deception,  or  any  mode  of 
accounting  for  these  appalling  noises  could  be  dis 
covered. — Such  was  the  account  of  u  The  Screeching 
Lady  of  Marblehead^  whose  cries  and  whose  story, 
will  probably  be  forgotten  by  the  next  generation. 

THE   END. 


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LD  21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 


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